This little chapter is an apology for the nasty trick I pulled in the author's notes in Chapter Twelve. It's the pivotal moments from Chapter Twelve from Bat's point of view.
The word 'omake' roughly translates into 'something extra', almost like a gift, in Japanese.
Bat Omake - True Names
The Master Bat!
Here! He was here! Under his wings is where she wanted most to be! Despite the restraint imposed inside by Fairy, she HAD to get to his side, to be next to him. She PULLED with all her might and...and she was there as close to nestling under his wing as an airborne creature could manage.
"Master Alucard!" Fairy gasped as she fell toward the ground.
She could understand human speech even better than she had before. The Master Bat she loved so much that she almost couldn't think straight while he was around regarded her. His eyes glowed a soft red. His expression was curiously soft too, before his form blurred and changed. The tall silver-haired man who was somehow connected to her handsome bat appeared. Fairy, her very best friend of all, put her hands on her hips as she floated in the air and glared at him as if she were upset.
She suddenly realized that what Fairy had tried to tell her so many times was true! The handsome man she helped by attacking creatures that came too close to him WAS her Master Bat! He was just a different form her Master Bat could take! She already knew that Master Bat was the strongest, handsomest and smartest bat of all, now she knew he was also the most magical! How wonderful that he could assume human form! And from the perceptions she had shared with Fairy in the merge, she knew he was just as handsome as a human to humans as he was as a bat to her.
Frustrated that though she could understand human speech she couldn't utter it, she fluttered all about Master Bat's human-seeming head in her delight at realizing his nature. He WAS her Master Bat!
She noticed his eyes were grey in his human form as he smiled at her and patted his shoulder. She shivered as she landed. She couldn't help but stroke her head along his cheek, delighted to be so near him. Her Master Bat! How clever he was!
"It worked," he said calmly. She thrilled to feel his deep voice reverberating through his frame before she realized what he'd said. Worked?! He had done that on purpose?! He wanted her separated from Fairy?! Oh! He did care for her!
"You did that...on purpose?!" Fairy demanded. "Why?! Now Bat will age and die! The scroll Demon used was consumed in the spell. He can't cast it again!"
Oh...Fairy was worried about her all over again! She wished she could tell Fairy she didn't mind at all, as long as she could help her Master Bat before she 'aged' and 'died'. Fairy had told her that she would eventually hurt so much she couldn't fly any more (that was 'aging') and someday, she simply wouldn't be anymore (that was 'dying'), but that didn't matter to her. What mattered was being near her Master Bat, and helping him again.
"Trust me," Master Bat advised mildly, "Now, stay here with D for a moment. I need to talk with Bat privately."
He reached a hand up to stroke her wings while he walked off. She shivered again. Fairy's complicated thoughts weren't bothering her. She could simply delight in the gentle touch and know...that all was right again.
She did want to thank Fairy for what she had done. Because of it, she now understood her Master Bat even better than before! She should have realized he could turn into a human before Fairy pointed it out to her. Fairy never said it, or even thought it, really, but she knew she was more stupid than Fairy. She hoped her being stupid didn't upset Master Bat.
"Bat," Master Bat said, taking her off of his shoulder. Oh, yes. 'Bat' was what everyone called her. It was okay, she had no way to tell them her true name. "I'm very grateful that Fairy and Demon decided to save you. I never realized you were mortal and could die of old age."
Wow! Fairy must really be smart if she helped Master Bat with things like that! He was worried about the same things Fairy worried about.
"I also never knew that you...love me," Master Bat continued.
She went very still in his hands. She wished Fairy hadn't told him that! Master Bat was...a dream she knew she could never attain. She had been content to love him from afar, without his realizing it, before Fairy had told him her secret. Would he send her away now that he knew? Was he insulted that a creature as stupid and useless as she dared to love him? Oh! If only Fairy hadn't told him! She would want to 'die' if she wasn't allowed near Master Bat anymore!
But...his touch was still gentle as he stroked her wings.
"You need to know that I love you too," Master Bat said.
She shivered at that! He...did?!
"I love all of you, Fairy, Demon, Ghost, Sword and you. All of you help me. All of you are my friends. I care for all of you."
Oh. She felt a little stupid again. Master Bat was the center of her world. Fairy was her best friend, Demon, Sword and Ghost were other friends, and she had the bats who would come when she called to fly with Master Bat too, but he was the most important. He was smart enough that he could have many of them in the center of his world. She considered. She wanted to be the only one, but if she were there at all, if she mattered to him enough that he loved her, it was enough! She stroked her head along his hand.
"Ah!" Master Bat said aloud. "I'm sad though. Do you understand why Demon merged you with Fairy?"
She remembered the odd things she had learned from Fairy. If she shook her head, she could say "Yes" in a way Master Bat would understand. She shook her head.
He smiled. "But now, apart from Fairy, you will die again." Master Bat's human eyes were very, very soft.
"I don't want you to die."
That did it! If he didn't want her to 'die', she wouldn't! She pulled back her wings to show her resolution.
He was watching her closely.
"You can't help but die. You are a mortal creature," Master Bat told her.
Fairy had thought the same words. She never quite understood what Fairy meant, since Fairy was so much smarter than she was. She felt very sad that she was going to disappoint Master Bat. She huddled sadly in her wings.
"I think I can...help you," he said softly. "I think, maybe, I can change you so you aren't mortal anymore."
She shook her head "Yes!" as hard as she could! How wonderful Master Bat was! He could make her better so she wouldn't disappoint him! And her best friend Fairy, and her other friends Demon, Ghost and Sword could stop being worried about her too!
"It's risky. I have to...kill you," Master Bat admitted.
Kill...her?! Kill was bad! Master Bat wanted to kill her?!
"I am...a dhampir. Half-vampire. If, as a bat, I kill you as a vampire does, maybe you would become a bat who is immortal the way a vampire is."
Dhampir? Is that what Master Bat was? Im-mor-tal...that was the word Fairy used. Fairy was immortal, that's why she had Demon merge them together.
"You might stay dead though. I might kill you and you would stay...killed."
Killed? Her, killed? Oh! Is that what 'dead' and 'die' meant?! Killed and being killed?!
She had never thought about it before. She had probably been too stupid to, before Demon merged her with Fairy. If 'die' meant being killed, then she knew she would die someday. It was the way of things. She would probably attack some monster that was fast enough to swipe at her and she'd fall with broken wings and die on some dungeon floor somewhere. If she were lucky, Master Bat might pick her up and hold her while she died if he were in his human form, or swoop down and hover over her if he were Master Bat. At least, she thought that would be how she would want to die.
But Master Bat kill her?! On purpose?! He was so much bigger and stronger than she, and she loved him so much she knew she'd never be able to fight back if he wanted to kill her. Why?! Why would he even think of it?!
"I had a dream...where I acted like a vampire, taking the blood of the woman I loved, knowing that it might change her into what I was..." Master Bat told her slowly. "It made me think. If I took your blood the same way, maybe I can change you to be like me a little. You might then become immortal and not die of old age."
Oh! So he didn't WANT to kill her, he HAD to! That made all the difference! He didn't want to kill her, he wanted to make her immortal. If Master Bat made her immortal, she wouldn't disappoint him or worry her friends anymore. She looked up at him and nodded.
"Do you really understand?" Master Bat asked softly. "I will have to kill you. You might never...wake up again."
She nodded again. If she had to die, what better way was there? She knew Master Bat wasn't TRYING to kill her, and she would have her wish, he'd be there when she died. She just hoped it wouldn't hurt too much...and that she'd be strong enough to not try to attack Master Bat back.
"You are smarter than you used to be," Master Bat noted. Really? She was?!
"I really hope this works!" Master Bat said fervently. "I'm going to change into a bat again and roost over there. Perch next to me, as close as you can," he grinned, "and try not to be afraid. I will be as gentle as I possibly can!" he promised. He opened his hand. She fluttered into the air and watched as he shimmered and took on his true appearance of her Master Bat again.
What he had said and what she agreed to suddenly made her realize that this might be the last time she ever got to see him again. If he killed her and she stayed dead...she'd never get to fly by his side, summon other bats to fly with them, attack a creature threatening him in his human form, breathe fire in unison with him in his bat form...
Master Bat was huge, large enough in fact to still be able to wear a sword! That had amazed her the first time she'd seen it. He could change the color of his wings too. That was how she'd known Master Bat was very magical. The angle of his head, the way his fangs curved just so, the arc of his wings in flight, how big and strong and swift he was...she loved every single thing about him! The fact this might be the last time she'd ever get to see him made her very sad.
But her friends worried about her. And Master Bat worried too. It was right to do what he wanted. Even if it hurt, he didn't MEAN to hurt her. She reminded herself that he told her to not be afraid.
He perched on a tree and after a moment, she did too. Shyly she sidestepped nearer and nearer, ready to drop and fly if Master Bat shifted in displeasure at her closeness. Only after she was pressed right up against his side, did he move, and that was to open one wing and wrap it around her.
Oh! This was wonderful! She shivered in delight, willingly moving where the gentle pressure of his wing led, until he had turned her to face him. Her Master Bat mantled her in both of his wings.
His glowing red eyes were incredibly soft, speaking volumes of the hope and regret he felt. His fear that he might hurt her, and his fear that she might truly die never to wake up again were easy to read. His hope also shone bright in his eyes along with a soft light...that she thought and hoped and dreamed was his love for her.
Made very bold by all he had said, by the haven he'd made for her in his wings and by the love she saw in his eyes, she stroked her head along his and nestled trustingly in his wings.
OH! Bliss! For his head stroked back along hers! Master Bat held her thus for a long, rapturous moment. He pulled back his head part way...
...and bit into her neck. She couldn't help but cringe from the pain of it, though Master Bat's wings held her firmly to him. The pain lessened and she stilled, content within his wings. Darkness crept slowly upon her, a darkness she knew Master Bat invited. If it was what he wanted...it was okay. She didn't fight against the darkness, slipping quietly from Master Bat's embrace...into the outstretched arms of the darkness.
********
She could tell she was in someone's hands. She couldn't see at all.
"What have we here? Hmmm?"
The voice was not that of Master Bat! What was going on?!
"Oh, don't panic, little one. I won't hurt you," the voice was even deeper than Master Bat's voice. It seemed colder too.
"'Colder'? What a strange thing for one such as you to think!"
The voice knew her thoughts?! It was too much! At least when Fairy and she were merged it was a friend, her best friend, who knew her thoughts. She didn't even know who this strange voice was!
"So indignant you are!" the voice chuckled. "But if I didn't read your mind how would I learn anything about you?" it asked reasonably. "Think at me who you are and what happened to bring you here, if you please, so I can decide what to do with you!"
Even though she didn't want to, she found she had to. There was no pain, but she couldn't help but obey the strange voice.
"I see," it finally said. "If not for the fact he is an excellent, and deadly, swordsman, he would be such a sentimental fool!"
He? He who? Master Bat? Was the voice speaking badly about HER Master Bat?! She hissed.
"Oh, ho!" the voice laughed. "So you would defend him even against me?! I like your spirit, Bat!"
She hissed again. Only her friends were allowed to call her that!
"Oh, you don't know it yet, but I am a friend too. I like this plan of Alucard's. I will allow it to work as he intended, his siring you to become a Vampire bat. After all, I must personally approve all new things dealing with vampires." The voice seemed less cold to her.
"Of course, there are a few details he didn't stop to think through!" the voice continued. "I suppose I can fix those for him. You've put me in a good mood, Bat! I will help you!"
Suddenly, she could see. The man holding her was older than Master Bat. Even she, humble, mortal creature that she was, could sense the immense power in the man. Her awareness of it seemed to please him. He had silvery-white hair, even lighter than Master Bat's hair when he was in his human form. His eyes glowed a soft red, that reminded her very strongly of her Master Bat's eyes, when he was a bat.
"I can be a bat too. Perhaps you will see it sometime," he muttered. "For now, let's see what I can do for you. I see no reason why you should not have an immortal span, as Alucard...ahem, 'Master Bat' intended. But I sense you are too gentle to bear the bloodthirst. In that way, you should remain as you are and not be changed."
She didn't understand exactly what the man was saying, but it seemed as if he knew what Master Bat wanted and was trying to help.
"A slight increase in intelligence would be in order! You aren't quite becoming one of us, but nothing says you must be hindered by the intellect of a natural animal any longer!"
At his words the concepts that she had been struggling so hard to understand became clearer. She knew she still wasn't as smart as Fairy, but she no longer felt completely, helplessly stupid either.
"I'd say that's about right!" the man declared. He still brimmed with a cold, fearsome power, but now she noticed the hint of a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eye. She sensed he was speaking the truth about helping her and Master Bat too. He chuckled, amused by something.
"Fly for me, little one," he commanded, lifting and opening his hands. She flew out into the room. She'd been so intent on this mysterious man she had paid no attention at all to her surroundings. The chamber was large and airy, and filled with the gentle, restful light of candles. It reminded her of the place full of monsters where she had first answered Master Bat's summons. She completed one circuit of the room and paused, almost stalling in the air as she found herself flying toward the man again. He patted his shoulder, just like Master Bat had done. She suddenly felt a little sad at the memory.
"Don't worry. You will see him again soon!" the man promised as she landed on his shoulder. "Hmmm." The man cupped his chin and pondered. He squinted his gaze sideways to look at her. Finally, he reached up and gently took her into his hands again.
"I'll use your 'Master Bat' as my model. You will be bigger, stronger, and faster, like he is, but not quite as big, strong or fast. He still has to be the best!"
That was fine with her!
She would never dare to think she was better than Master Bat in anything!
"Oh, but you are!
You are more agile than he is, especially in the air. I will enhance
that too. Heh, heh! Alucard needs a curve ball or two to keep
him from getting a swelled head!"
She'd never think Master Bat was over-confident in anything!
"Do you realize you knew I was talking about 'Master Bat' and understood my metaphor without effort? You will be a one-of-a-kind Vampire Bat!" the man's eyes twinkled furiously at her.
'Vampire' bat? Isn't that what Master Bat had said he was...half-vampire?
"He is. And you will be too. More or less. I probably should have done this a long time ago, when I first placed the card and chose you to answer its summons," the man sighed sadly. "The legend in Alucard's world does not allow me to be nice to him very often. I'm pleased that your predicament did allow me to..." the man's voice petered out.
"Bah! I'm becoming as soft as that boy!" he suddenly derided himself.
She thought she understood. He had been nice to her. She wished she could tell him how much she appreciated that in some way. She stretched, thinking to stroke her head along his hand...
He chuckled and pet her head.
"Frustrating for you, isn't it? Not being able to speak..." he stared off into space for a moment. "A gift then, just for you. It has nothing to do with 'Master Bat's' wishes or hopes for you, it is only for you that I do it, because you amuse me. You will find you have a way to speak with your Master Bat! Don't mention me to him, okay? This is our secret!"
"The changes are almost done. It is time for you to pass again through the darkness," the man told her.
The darkness?! She was only able to bear it before because Master Bat was the one who placed her into it...how could she face that darkness alone?!
"You aren't alone," the man told her. "I'm not your 'Master Bat' but I am like him in a few ways," he smiled deeply, showing his fangs for the first time. "Not that I will bite you. There is no need. Simply close your eyes and rest in my hands. I promise, you will wake up in your Master Bat's hands instead!"
She looked into his eyes for a very long moment. He was powerful, very powerful, and rather scary. But she thought...perhaps he was kind too. A veiled kindness, hard to see, but kindness, nonetheless. And she did want to see Master Bat again. Maybe the darkness wouldn't be so bad...if Master Bat were at the end of it...she closed her eyes.
********
She heard voices. Fairy's soft tone was almost shrill with upset. The deeper tone of Master Bat's friend was quiet and low. She gathered her strength as she listened before finally opening her eyes.
She stayed very still as joy washed over her. Master Bat, in his human form again, held her in his hands as she had been promised. Here was the place in the world she most wanted to be, or at Master Bat's side, when he was a bat, partially under his wing as they flew.
But he seemed so sad! Why was that? Oh...he thought she was still dead, didn't he? How silly he was! He was her Master Bat, of course he wouldn't allow her to die! She had to somehow turn his attention away from the argument between Fairy and Left Hand so he would know everything worked as he wanted, but he held her so awkwardly! Her wings were completely pinned and she was on her back in his hands! Finally, she just turned her head up a little and licked his chin.
Master Bat's eyes were huge when he looked down at her. They got so wide and soft when he saw her. She wanted nothing more than to thank him for the daring he'd taken, and his wonderfulness, and his intelligence and...
The most intense feeling she'd even had in her life tore through her!
"Hungry!"
"BAT!" Master Bat hugged her tightly, but carefully too, not pinning her wings against her this time.
"BAT!!! She's okay, she's okay!" Fairy danced through the air.
She was happy to see her friend so happy, and ecstatic to see Master Bat again, but those feelings paled against the ravening emptiness inside her! Now that she was close enough, she stroked her head along Master Bat's cheek to show her pleasure at being with him again, but he had to help her with this empty feeling RIGHT NOW!
"HUNGRY!" she demanded insistently.
Master Bat laughed, "Okay, okay! D, I've got to take the little one out for a hunt. She's famished."
"Go," Master Bat's friend agreed. She delighted that Master Bat once again assumed his true form. She darted over to take her accustomed place under his wing, matching wing beats automatically with him as she did so. She was used to following Master Bat and willingly flew alongside him as they left his brother and Fairy behind.
"I was so worried!" Master Bat said aloud. "So very worried that I had killed you. I know father would think I'm too soft and sentimental, but I'm glad...glad you are back!"
"Hungry! Food, then talk!" she insisted.
"Bat! I 'heard' that! Not quite with my ears...how can I understand you?!" Master Bat asked.
"Hunnnngry!" Why wouldn't he understand?! She was delighted that she could speak with him directly, and she was more than willing to talk with him all he wanted once she didn't feel like her wings would collapse into the empty hole inside of her, but why wouldn't he realize that she had to eat NOW?!
"Hungry?" Master Bat asked curiously. "Not thirsty?"
"No! Hungry!" she insisted.
"What do you want to eat?"
Just then, she spied something appealing and turned a quick wingflip to chase after it.
"Wha...? Where'd you go?!" Master Bat asked from high above her. He dove to follow her as she scooped up the bug that caught her attention.
"Mmm!"
Something else wandered into her range. She lost track of all the different tastes as she devoured any insect foolish enough to get close to her. Finally, the intense need to eat began to abate.
"I never realized how acrobatic you are in the air," Master Bat admitted. She preened a bit at his praise.
"Are you still hungry?" he asked.
"A little," she admitted shyly.
"Let me show you something. I have a feeling you can do this now too."
Master Bat hovered until a moth fluttered in front of him. She could feel the waves that Master Bat sent out. She watched as the moth was struck by those waves and faltered out of the air. Compelled by her hunger, she dove down to consume the hapless moth.
"You are still hungry!" Master Bat laughed. "You try it!"
Huh? Try it...the power he used to stun the moth? If he told her to, she'd try...
She dove down after the insect the waves SHE sent out stunned from the air and gobbled it up. He was right! She could now use another power of Master Bat's! And...she didn't have to use it at exactly the same time he did as with the fire-breath!
"It's called 'Force of Echo'. I think it's how you are able to talk with me," Master Bat told her. "I know it's how I'm talking with you now. I can 'hear' it while in my dhampir form too. That's odd."
"I didn't know exactly what would happen, when I bit you. Are you...happy with what's happened?" Master Bat asked her hesitantly.
"Very happy!" she replied. "I know that Fairy and the others were very worried about me! Once Fairy told you, I could tell you were worried too. I still don't understand it all, but if no one is worried about me anymore, it is good."
"I'm not worried anymore," Master Bat said softly.
"And...because of it, I'm even better friends with Fairy than I was before and I understand things better and can help more and now I can...talk with you," she finished shyly. "That is the best good of all, Master Bat."
"'Master Bat'?" Master Bat asked.
"That is who you are. I never realized until Fairy told me and even then I still didn't really understand it until today, that you can actually become different things. Mist and wolf and human. That used to confuse me. You are the most magical bat I've ever met, Master Bat!"
"Oh!" Master Bat seemed stunned.
"So you think this and not this," Master Bat shimmered into his human shape again, "is my real form?" he asked, holding out a hand for her to land on.
"Of course! You are the Master Bat after all!" she replied as she obeyed.
"I see," he smiled down at her before looking into the distance for a long moment.
"I suppose I could try to explain, but it makes no difference and it makes you happy," Master Bat finally looked down at her and smiled again. "Do me one favor though?"
"Of course! All you have to do is ask, Master Bat!" she shifted nervously. She could do something for him? That was wonderful!
"Use my name. I am Alucard," he told her.
"'Alucard'...Fairy calls you that," she noted.
He nodded. "Yes, it is my name."
"Can I call you 'Master Bat' once in a while?" she asked plaintively. "Calling you by your name...Fairy is smart enough to use it, Sword and Demon also, and your silent brother and the noisy creature in his hand too, but I am just a simple, stupid thing..."
"Stupid?" Master Bat...Alucard demanded. "You aren't stupid!"
"I always try to help but I wonder if I am any help at all," her wings drooped just a little. Master Bat's hand came up to stroke them.
"Do you remember what I told you before?" he asked gently. "You are important to me. I care for you. Bat, you do help me. You are the only one who calls others to help me. Fairy is very smart, and she can help me with spells during battle, but she never attacks anything. Sword and Ghost...attacking things is all they do. Demon likes to find things to meddle with, and sometimes, if he feels like it, he attacks monsters. When I have to be a bat..."
"Master Bat," she interrupted softly.
"...Master Bat," he grinned at her, "It is nice to have you fly with me, along with your friends. You never get in my way and you always make my attacks more powerful. And when I am in this form," he indicated himself with his free hand, "you often attack monsters before I can even reach them. That is very helpful indeed!"
"You are quite helpful to me, Bat. I'd be pleased if you would use my name...most of the time. You can call me 'Master Bat' if you want, once in a while, since it makes you so happy," he finished.
"Master Alucard..." she began hesitantly.
"Yes, Bat?" he smiled that she had used his name.
"My name isn't 'Bat' either. I know that's how everyone thinks of me, since that's what I am, but I have a name too," she admitted.
"Really? Can I know what it is?" He pulled her close. She didn't know exactly when she started to think his grey, human eyes were so beautiful, but she loved how mild and gentle they appeared to her now. Maybe it was because she had been merged with Fairy who knew such things. Or maybe it was that she was more intelligent now, just as the powerful man in the realm beyond the darkness had promised. She could see for herself that Master Bat, Alucard, was just as handsome in his human form as he was in his bat one.
Her heart fluttered in her almost painfully. She'd not been called by her real name for so long, she didn't know if she could get used to responding to it again. Maybe Alucard would think it was silly. Maybe she'd tell him and he'd still just call her 'Bat'. That would be okay, she supposed. She knew he thought of her differently than all other bats even if he never used her name.
"It's..." She told him her name.
He blinked. "That's lovely," Alucard told her.
"But, do you know what?" he asked.
She shook her head 'No'. He thought her name was pretty?!
"I can't even pronounce that in this form," he lifted his wrist in the silent cue for her to fly. He shifted to his true form again.
She might be able to see Alucard's beauty in his human form for herself now, but she'd always think he was most handsome as her Master Bat. She couldn't help but answer that attraction and dart over to fly just under his wing. He turned his head and regarded her with softly glowing, beautiful red eyes. She noticed how even though she was larger than she'd ever been before, Master Bat's wing cupped over her a little more than it used to on each wing beat.
"We should go back to the others," Master Bat, no...Alucard, suggested softly. He then uttered her name.
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I could probably translate it...
...but that is a secret best left untold! ^_^
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Author's notes -
I know, I know! It's over the top treacly sweet! I'm going to have to write something dark, dire and horribly angsty, with lots of gratuitous death and destruction and dreadful despair if I want to be taken as a serious writer. Maybe I should go over dose on Egdar Allan Poe to get me in the right mindset again. :P
What the heck is Bat's name? I have no idea what to call her, so I decided to leave it up to each reader's imagination. But this is me...you know I had to tease you in the story about it! Heh, heh!
The center section somehow appeared as I was writing...you-know-who just had to show up! (Who am I to tell him 'No'?!) And...(I don't believe it! What is it with these vampires?) there's another 'Bat' story begging to be written!
Reviews, comments and constructive criticisms are always welcome! Please feel free to email me also if you see something awkward that needs to be clarified or fixed. I need all the help I can get!
stargarde@stargarde.com