Disclaimer: I do not own Darkstalkers, Capcom does. I do own Traveler, however.
Hey readers! Got one review, titled "Not Bad", by someone called ?. So send more reviews, everyone! Anonymous reviews now accepted :). Sorry about the screw-up before- I didn't know I had no anonymous reviews turned on! Oh yeah- if anyone has any idea how to get HTML format out of Wordperfect, TELL ME PLEASE. I hate the text format, but it's the best I can do right now. Sorry :(. Here's the chapter: Parentheses indicates thought.
Chapter 4: Ebony Serenade
Dimitri arrived at the werewolf town of Howling Vale in the early morning. The light sun that was present was starting to cook him, so he quickly found an inn and slept through the day. Nobody recognized him as the Duke of Vampires, and he was more than happy to keep it that way.
(If no one recognizes me), Dimitri thought, (I'll be all right. Don't want anybody with something against House Maximov to take it out on me.)
Waking up in the evening, he spoke with the inn's owner about a man named John Tailban.
" You're looking for John?" the old werewolf said, his fur a dark gray. " He's in the third house on the right, next to the smithy."
Dimitri thanked him, and headed to John's house. He knocked on the door, which was soon opened by a catwoman with white fur and shocking blue hair.
( A Felinos?) Dimitri wondered. (What's a Felinos doing here?)
" I'm looking for John Tailban?" he said, wondering if the old guy at the inn had steered him wrong.
" You a friend of John's?" she asked. " He's out, doing a bit of hunting. He'll be back soon. Why don't you sit down, wait a while."
Dimitri entered the little wooden house. It was cheerfully decorated with assorted pictures and paintings, and on one wall hung what Dimitri guessed was a family picture album. One werewolf stood out- a tall werewolf holding a long spear in one hand, looking upwards. Dimitri got very odd sensations from it... like it was watching him. The hair on his neck rose up at the sight of the picture.
Ignoring the unsettling picture, Dimitri turned his attention to the Felinos, who was sitting down in a chair and motioning for him to sit on a sofa nearby. As he sat down, she asked, "What brings you here?"
Dimitri said, " I need to talk to John about something."
She shrugged. " Alright. Where do you come from?"
" Romania." he answered.
" Oh, you're a vampire!" she practically squealed. " I've heard about them, but never seen one before. You don't look much different from humans."
Dimitri frowned slightly. " Thanks for the reminder."
She looked abashed, her little cat-ears drooping. " Sorry. Guess you don't like it being mentioned, huh."
He shook his head. " No, we don't."
Her ears perked up, and she looked at him. " But I don't see why not. Humans are a race of Makai, too. Just because their weaker than we are doesn't mean anything."
Dimitri glowered at her. " It's not that. If that was it, I'd have no problem with Humans. But they hate us, and kill us when they can. Why the hell are you defending them, anyway? They'd kill you on sight, just like the rest of us."
She sighed. " Damn it. This is just what we are trying to stop! If we could just work together..." She shook her head, blue hair twirling around.
" We?"
" Me and John. We've formed a little group that is working for peace between Humans and Darkstalkers. The Wolf Kingdom and the Felinos Kingdom have agreed to some of our measures, and we sent a envoy to Berial in House Aensland, but the outlook isn't very good."
Dimitri mulled this over. Figured that the Werewolf and Felinos Kingdoms would agree to the measures. Of all the Darkstalkers, the two races were the closest to humans- werewolves even spent part of their time as a human. Although there wasn't a chance in hell of Berial accepting the terms. Berial despised humans, who he viewed as being nothing but overgrown ants; relying on numbers to take down their "betters", as Berial thought of Darkstalkers when compared to humans.
As he was thinking, the door opened. A werewolf, clad in shorts and wearing a shoulder pack over his blue fur, walked in.
Felicia ran over to greet him and gave him a big hug. " Hey John!" she squealed in delight.
John hugged her back. As they embraced, Felicia whispered softly in his ear, " Some guy here. Vampire. He seems really creepy- almost totally emotionless."
John let her go with a final squeeze to let her know he had heard her. He turned to Dimitri, who was sitting with his face blank of emotions, as he was accustomed to doing.
" Are you Dimitri Maximov?" the werewolf asked.
" Yes."
" Have you met-" John stopped mid-sentence. He better see if this was really the guy Traveler had told him of. " Who sent you here?"
" Traveler. He said to find you."
John let out a sigh of relief. " Good. So you are Dimitri Maximov." He smiled. " I've been waiting for you ever since Traveler came by two nights ago."
Felicia looked at John. " You mean that guy with the wierd cape? The one like the night sky?"
John nodded. " Felicia met him too. He said that I had to help you. I don't know why, but when Traveler asks something of you..." he shrugged. " It was like I'd known him my whole life when we met, like he was a old friend asking a favor. Traveler is greater than anyone I've ever met before...." he shook his head. " Spiritually, I mean. So when he asks something, you do it. What help do you need?"
Dimitri nodded. " He said something about a weapon..."
John looked at the wall. He sighed.
" The weapon is an old story in my family. My great-grandfather," he indicated the picture that had unsettled Dimitri on his arrival, " was a blacksmith. But he was a man who cared more for profit than anything else. To best other blacksmiths, he used foul methods to create his weapons, and they were always weapons of pain- weapons that fed on the very blood they spilled. His weapons became famous for their power and bloodlust, and many mercenaries and kings clamored for them. This went on for years."
"But one day he set out after a mercenary camp he had sold to recently. They were going to attack a village, so he shouldn't have sold to them, but they offered gold and he was greedy. And in a perverse way, he thought it would be nice to see what his weapons would do. He came upon a village that had been completely ravaged by the mercenaries. A single survivor was left- a little wolf girl. My grandfather picked her up, looked in her eyes, and she died in his arms. The wound she had was nothing really- just a small gash on her arm- but the blood in her body was sucked out. My grandfather's weapons had slaughtered all those people..." John shook his shaggy head. " My grandfather was so shocked and horrified at what he had created that he went back to his forge. He worked day and night for weeks, pouring his very life into his new creation. It was a black spear, created of ebony. He put a part of himself into it, gave his life to give it strength- and before he died, he named it the Ebonrule. It was incredibly hard and sharp, but light as a feather to the wielder."
Dimitri said, " What makes it special? It sounds just like every other enchanted weapon I've seen."
John chuckled. " Well, this one has a twist. It cannot be held by an evil man, and in the hands of the good, although having the qualities I mentioned, it is still nothing special. But when held by a man who was once evil, and has turned to good, it blazes with a blue flame- the flame of redemption. There is no spell, no armor, no scale strong enough to withstand the Ebonrule when it burns. The flame coats the wielder, making them impervious to magic. Not even a demon can withstand the Ebonrule's fire."
Dimitri raised an eyebrow. " If it is so powerful, why have I never heard of it?"
John pointed at the picture. " My grandfather sealed it in that picture. No one can reach the Ebonrule if they have not once been evil, and then purged themselves- just like my grandfather."
Dimitri nodded. " Fine. But I hardly fit the evil turned good description..."
" Do you really believe yourself a man of Good, Dimitri?" a rasping voice suddenly called.
The Darkstalkers jumped up and turned around. Nobody was in the room...
" Why are you looking for me there, Dimitri? I'm inside you... in your heart, where the evil grows with every pulse. I am part of you, boy."
The voice made John's hackles rise. It sounded like sandpaper being rubbed together. And even though it was faint, John heard a child crying. Crying in pain and torment- but it was in the background, and John refocused his attention on the voice.
" What do you mean?" Dimitri yelled out. " Who are you?"
" Isn't it obvious?" the voice answered, and the three Darkstalkers heard mocking laughter, as if from a thousand voices in the background. " I'm the reason slaughter continues, I'm the voice that drives the mad, the reason everything in your world is fed by death and pain and hatred..." The laughter began again. " I'm you, every evil thought you've ever had. I'm the darkness that abides in everyone's heart, given flesh and purpose, given birth in flame and nightmare. I'm the destroyer of souls, the lord of the Deeping Dream..."
" I am Pyron."
Hey readers! Got one review, titled "Not Bad", by someone called ?. So send more reviews, everyone! Anonymous reviews now accepted :). Sorry about the screw-up before- I didn't know I had no anonymous reviews turned on! Oh yeah- if anyone has any idea how to get HTML format out of Wordperfect, TELL ME PLEASE. I hate the text format, but it's the best I can do right now. Sorry :(. Here's the chapter: Parentheses indicates thought.
Chapter 4: Ebony Serenade
Dimitri arrived at the werewolf town of Howling Vale in the early morning. The light sun that was present was starting to cook him, so he quickly found an inn and slept through the day. Nobody recognized him as the Duke of Vampires, and he was more than happy to keep it that way.
(If no one recognizes me), Dimitri thought, (I'll be all right. Don't want anybody with something against House Maximov to take it out on me.)
Waking up in the evening, he spoke with the inn's owner about a man named John Tailban.
" You're looking for John?" the old werewolf said, his fur a dark gray. " He's in the third house on the right, next to the smithy."
Dimitri thanked him, and headed to John's house. He knocked on the door, which was soon opened by a catwoman with white fur and shocking blue hair.
( A Felinos?) Dimitri wondered. (What's a Felinos doing here?)
" I'm looking for John Tailban?" he said, wondering if the old guy at the inn had steered him wrong.
" You a friend of John's?" she asked. " He's out, doing a bit of hunting. He'll be back soon. Why don't you sit down, wait a while."
Dimitri entered the little wooden house. It was cheerfully decorated with assorted pictures and paintings, and on one wall hung what Dimitri guessed was a family picture album. One werewolf stood out- a tall werewolf holding a long spear in one hand, looking upwards. Dimitri got very odd sensations from it... like it was watching him. The hair on his neck rose up at the sight of the picture.
Ignoring the unsettling picture, Dimitri turned his attention to the Felinos, who was sitting down in a chair and motioning for him to sit on a sofa nearby. As he sat down, she asked, "What brings you here?"
Dimitri said, " I need to talk to John about something."
She shrugged. " Alright. Where do you come from?"
" Romania." he answered.
" Oh, you're a vampire!" she practically squealed. " I've heard about them, but never seen one before. You don't look much different from humans."
Dimitri frowned slightly. " Thanks for the reminder."
She looked abashed, her little cat-ears drooping. " Sorry. Guess you don't like it being mentioned, huh."
He shook his head. " No, we don't."
Her ears perked up, and she looked at him. " But I don't see why not. Humans are a race of Makai, too. Just because their weaker than we are doesn't mean anything."
Dimitri glowered at her. " It's not that. If that was it, I'd have no problem with Humans. But they hate us, and kill us when they can. Why the hell are you defending them, anyway? They'd kill you on sight, just like the rest of us."
She sighed. " Damn it. This is just what we are trying to stop! If we could just work together..." She shook her head, blue hair twirling around.
" We?"
" Me and John. We've formed a little group that is working for peace between Humans and Darkstalkers. The Wolf Kingdom and the Felinos Kingdom have agreed to some of our measures, and we sent a envoy to Berial in House Aensland, but the outlook isn't very good."
Dimitri mulled this over. Figured that the Werewolf and Felinos Kingdoms would agree to the measures. Of all the Darkstalkers, the two races were the closest to humans- werewolves even spent part of their time as a human. Although there wasn't a chance in hell of Berial accepting the terms. Berial despised humans, who he viewed as being nothing but overgrown ants; relying on numbers to take down their "betters", as Berial thought of Darkstalkers when compared to humans.
As he was thinking, the door opened. A werewolf, clad in shorts and wearing a shoulder pack over his blue fur, walked in.
Felicia ran over to greet him and gave him a big hug. " Hey John!" she squealed in delight.
John hugged her back. As they embraced, Felicia whispered softly in his ear, " Some guy here. Vampire. He seems really creepy- almost totally emotionless."
John let her go with a final squeeze to let her know he had heard her. He turned to Dimitri, who was sitting with his face blank of emotions, as he was accustomed to doing.
" Are you Dimitri Maximov?" the werewolf asked.
" Yes."
" Have you met-" John stopped mid-sentence. He better see if this was really the guy Traveler had told him of. " Who sent you here?"
" Traveler. He said to find you."
John let out a sigh of relief. " Good. So you are Dimitri Maximov." He smiled. " I've been waiting for you ever since Traveler came by two nights ago."
Felicia looked at John. " You mean that guy with the wierd cape? The one like the night sky?"
John nodded. " Felicia met him too. He said that I had to help you. I don't know why, but when Traveler asks something of you..." he shrugged. " It was like I'd known him my whole life when we met, like he was a old friend asking a favor. Traveler is greater than anyone I've ever met before...." he shook his head. " Spiritually, I mean. So when he asks something, you do it. What help do you need?"
Dimitri nodded. " He said something about a weapon..."
John looked at the wall. He sighed.
" The weapon is an old story in my family. My great-grandfather," he indicated the picture that had unsettled Dimitri on his arrival, " was a blacksmith. But he was a man who cared more for profit than anything else. To best other blacksmiths, he used foul methods to create his weapons, and they were always weapons of pain- weapons that fed on the very blood they spilled. His weapons became famous for their power and bloodlust, and many mercenaries and kings clamored for them. This went on for years."
"But one day he set out after a mercenary camp he had sold to recently. They were going to attack a village, so he shouldn't have sold to them, but they offered gold and he was greedy. And in a perverse way, he thought it would be nice to see what his weapons would do. He came upon a village that had been completely ravaged by the mercenaries. A single survivor was left- a little wolf girl. My grandfather picked her up, looked in her eyes, and she died in his arms. The wound she had was nothing really- just a small gash on her arm- but the blood in her body was sucked out. My grandfather's weapons had slaughtered all those people..." John shook his shaggy head. " My grandfather was so shocked and horrified at what he had created that he went back to his forge. He worked day and night for weeks, pouring his very life into his new creation. It was a black spear, created of ebony. He put a part of himself into it, gave his life to give it strength- and before he died, he named it the Ebonrule. It was incredibly hard and sharp, but light as a feather to the wielder."
Dimitri said, " What makes it special? It sounds just like every other enchanted weapon I've seen."
John chuckled. " Well, this one has a twist. It cannot be held by an evil man, and in the hands of the good, although having the qualities I mentioned, it is still nothing special. But when held by a man who was once evil, and has turned to good, it blazes with a blue flame- the flame of redemption. There is no spell, no armor, no scale strong enough to withstand the Ebonrule when it burns. The flame coats the wielder, making them impervious to magic. Not even a demon can withstand the Ebonrule's fire."
Dimitri raised an eyebrow. " If it is so powerful, why have I never heard of it?"
John pointed at the picture. " My grandfather sealed it in that picture. No one can reach the Ebonrule if they have not once been evil, and then purged themselves- just like my grandfather."
Dimitri nodded. " Fine. But I hardly fit the evil turned good description..."
" Do you really believe yourself a man of Good, Dimitri?" a rasping voice suddenly called.
The Darkstalkers jumped up and turned around. Nobody was in the room...
" Why are you looking for me there, Dimitri? I'm inside you... in your heart, where the evil grows with every pulse. I am part of you, boy."
The voice made John's hackles rise. It sounded like sandpaper being rubbed together. And even though it was faint, John heard a child crying. Crying in pain and torment- but it was in the background, and John refocused his attention on the voice.
" What do you mean?" Dimitri yelled out. " Who are you?"
" Isn't it obvious?" the voice answered, and the three Darkstalkers heard mocking laughter, as if from a thousand voices in the background. " I'm the reason slaughter continues, I'm the voice that drives the mad, the reason everything in your world is fed by death and pain and hatred..." The laughter began again. " I'm you, every evil thought you've ever had. I'm the darkness that abides in everyone's heart, given flesh and purpose, given birth in flame and nightmare. I'm the destroyer of souls, the lord of the Deeping Dream..."
" I am Pyron."