Days seemed to have passed since he last saw civilization of humankind. He missed Vampire Mountain, but he did not miss the terrible purgatory of being boxed up in a place where he did not belong to mostly. To him, Vampire Mountain was just like a boarding school. He had to return to the vampire stronghold most of the time when duty calls, but if he had nothing else to do, he would immediately arose and leave the stronghold, travelling across the world until he was called again once more.
Life as a vampire never concerned him much, but as a General, he must prioritize the well-being of his fellow vampires. Hence, he was not very popular among his brethren, and other Generals that were older and higher-ranked than he seemed to have a bone to pick with him every now and then. Yet he maintained the lackadaisical attitude towards it all—he opinionated that whatever happens in the end, he will just have to take his chances to survive...the vampiric way.
He was now halfway up the mountain when he stopped momentarily, feeling a strange sensation creeping up inside him. He tried to analyzed the sensation, wondering why it had approached him so suddenly. He was never the named in the Hall of the Princes as one of the greatest generals, but he was still widely recognized by all vampires as the youngest vampire ever to be elected as a General—and also the most adaptable and mature in the field as well.
He had hence learned from experience that such unrecognizeable feelings could mean either something good or bad. He paused for a few moments, kept on trying...it surely had to mean something...
"Top of the world, Matthias Reign!" a voice greeted him from behind. Chills began running down his spine as he instantly recognised who it was. He immediately spun around.
"D-Desmond T-Tiny?" he asked.
"Too right it's me," the meddler murmured, amused. "I'm overly enjoyed to see that my reputation preceeds me." Mr Tiny approached the young General, Matthias, with his two Little People following him closely behind. When the little meddler (half the height of Matthias, who was pretty small compared to an average-sized vampire) had faced him up close, he slowly whispered, "I may have news that perhaps the Princes would love to hear. Since we are heading the same way, would you be so kind as to accompany me and my fellow followers as well?"
Matthias debated this in his mind and bided his own time to make a decision before finally making up his mind. "As you wish, sir."
"Well then, that's settled." Mr Tiny began walking in an easternly direction. "Follow me, Matt." The young General obediently followed, not exactly eager to fulfill the meddler's whim, but instead because he knew better than to mess with the powerful meddler.
"Ah, now that's comfortable," Mr Tiny sighed happily as he sunk into the comfortable chair that, if Matthias was not mistaken, used to belong to the vampire prince who was remembered in history as the hero who managed to lead the vampires to win the War of the Scars, Darren Shan.
"The Vampire Princes left," Mr Tiny said as he looked at all the Vampire Princes at present. "Mika Ver Leth, Arrow, and Vancha March." The meddler shook his head. "Such a pity."
"What is?" Mika growled.
"Three Vampire Princes left—that won't be enough, I'm afraid," the meddler said with a mocking sneer. "No, that won't surely be enough."
"What in the name of Veruz Chalce are you talking about?" Vancha demanded. "You're not making any sense—just get on with it!"
"Exercise patience," Mr Tiny said with an annoying tone. "All in good time. No need to use that tone around Matthias now."
"To the vampaneze with Matthias Reign!" a General, lower-levelled than Matthias, shouted at the top of his lungs, momentarily forgetting his place. "What's all this got to do with him, the puny shrimp?"
Matthias now may be the most respected General amongst the vampires, but he had one teeny weakness: he easily got offended by anyone who dared to question his height. Unfortunate to the luck of the General, Matthias happened to be near him, and heard him clearly. For the next few moments...
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MICROSCOPIC FLEA-BAG?!"—POW!—"AAARGH! Forgive me, sir! I didn't mean to! I didn't—NNNNNGRHHHHH!!!"—"CAN A SHRIMP SLICE YOU INTO THREE THOUSAND PIECES LIKE THIS, HUH? I'M STILL GROWING, YOU MISERABLE EXCUSE FOR A GENERAL!"—"The boy sure has his limits," Mr Tiny whispered.—"Aye," Vancha chuckled.
After Matthias had dealt with the General, the meeting with the vampires resumed once more. The General now looked something like a carcass one might meet in the dark alleys, dumped and terribly bruised. The rest of the vampires bore in mind not to get to the young General's bad side in the future.
"Now, enough chit-chat, we mustn't dally," Mr Tiny said with a mysterious smile spread on his lips. "There's a tsunami in a week's time in the Eastern Region, and I don't wish to miss the grand event." The meddler beckoned an arm towards the young General, half-hidden in the the crowd. "Come here, Master Reign." When he saw that the other vampires hesitated to make way for the young General to pass, he screamed, "Now!" Matthias slowly advanced towards the grand table for the Vampire Princes, feeling a sense of dread creeping up inside him.
"Sit here, Master Reign," Mr Tiny ordered, and pointed towards the seat which used to belong to...Paris Skyle!
"Um..."
"Dare to defy me, Master Reign?" Mr Tiny sweetly asked the young General.
"Matthias, you don't have to kowtow to him entirely, you know," Arrow immediately cut in.
"Are you mad, Tiny?" Vancha shouted. "That is Paris' place! Nobody sits there, not even us Vampire Princes or the Vampire Princes to come in the future!"
"I'm afraid you are wrong, Vancha March," Mr Tiny said solemnly, despite the smile on his face had not faltered. "There will be one Vampire Prince who will arise to lead the vampires against an enemy other than the vampaneze, this time much more stronger and menacing, a war which is twice harder than the War of the Scars." The meddler fixed his gaze on the young General. The vampires presented in the Hall instantly realized what was Mr Tiny saying.
"It can't be...are you saying...that the prince-to-be is...Matthias Reign?" Mika stuttered.
"Of course that's what I'm saying!" Mr Tiny almost snapped, but the smile on his face began to spread even wider. "What else could I mean?"
"You...You must got mixed up with the wrong guy," Matthias humbly slinked away. "I can't be the one..."
"Now, Matt," the meddler said soothingly as he patted the young General's arm. "I know that this is all too quick for you..."
"Nonono, you listen to me first, please," Matthias said. "I can't be the Vampire Prince you're talking about, and even if I am...well...just look here, I'm not a Vampire Prince, and I won't be—I don't have what it takes to be a Vampire Prince, sir! I...I don't even have...a past." Having finished that, Matthias lowered his head and averted the other vampires' gaze. He could not help himself from feeling ashamed.
"No, Matt," Mr Tiny murmured as he patted the young General's arm again. "Everybody has a past, whether it's pleasurable or horrid. Yours is merely a case of you not remembering it."
"Huh? But why couldn't I remember?" Matthias asked the meddler. "I couldn't even remember who blooded me as a vampire."
"Well, Master Reign, I am here to tell you all that," Mr Tiny said with an evil grin. A very evil grin. Matthias judged that it could not be something good.
"But I'm afraid that it's personal, and I would rather tell you in private," Mr Tiny continued.
" As for the rest of you," Mr Tiny said as he looked at all the scarred faces of the vampires in the Hall. "Let it be known from this moment onward that your race will have another Vampire Prince, and that Prince is Sir Matthias Reign. Respect him for what he is, and treat him right." Mr Tiny smiled and signalled to Matthias that he was going somewhere else. As Mr Tiny, Matthias, and his Little People left Hall of the Princes and moved towards the Hall of Perta Vin Grahl, a gargantuan wave of gossip and excited chatting took over the vampires in the Hall, while the remaining three Vampire Princes discussed among themselves about what had they been just told.
As they made themselves comfortable in the Hall of Corza Jarn, standing next to the waterfall portals and admiring its beauty, Mr Tiny began.
"Well, my boy, it's time for you to know about your past." Mr Tiny reached inside his robe and pulled out a black book with mauve weavings decorating its hard cover. "This is for you."
"What's this?" Matthias asked as he examined it. "Is it mine?"
"No, my boy, that is a diary belonging to the fallen Vampire Prince, Darren Shan," Mr Tiny explained. "Inside, you will understand the dangers faced by the fallen Prince and thus be able to prepare yourself physically and mentally for the upcoming war."
"What...I don't understand. Why must I read Sire Shan's diary? It's personal."
"That is because the war, as I have told before, is twice as much as harder than the War of the Scars, Master Reign. You'll be needing it."
"But, uh, I'm sure that there are some other things that I'm sure he'd rather I won't peek in..."
"Oh, tush!" Mr Tiny waved his hand, dismissing Matthias' argues. "He's not around to know that you're being a Peeping Tom, now, is he?"
"But still, I..."
"Enough, no more excuses!" Mr Tiny snapped. Then he softened again. "Now, I'm sure that you would be very interested to know how did you become a vampire, who was the vampire that blooded you, and why can't you remember, am I correct?"
Matthias began to looked forward and listened up carefully, paying full attention.
Mr Tiny took a few moments, choosing the precise words to explain to Matthias. "Years ago, long before Larten Crepsley joined the Cirque Du Freak, he travelled around the world. He was blooded in early 1900s, as you can see, and somehow, in his travels, he settled down for a short while in Germany. If I can recall it clearly, the Germans were facing a hard time as inflation controlled the whole country's economy status."
Matthias patiently calculated the time and thought over about the historical events of the world that he had learnt so far. "That's about in 1926-1928." He suddenly became surprised. "Whoa, Mr Crepsley's that old?"
"Precisely. What intrigues me—and fascinates me—the most was that he came across a person, a seventeen-year-old human boy, who was not quite of this world."
"What...do you exactly mean by that?" Matthias asked.
"You see, the blond-haired boy was dying, being closely led to his death by a foolish woman who only placed herself highly before others. In his vague, dying moments, I interfered with him, delaying his death so that he would last longer even though he was bleeding badly. Larten saw all the events connecting to the poor boy's death. He also could sense that the boy was never really dead despite being terribly slashed, so he digged into his heels, got to his knees and helped the poor dying lad.
"Larten imposed on him two choices: wither and die straightaway, or be blooded by Larten himself and become a vampire. The boy could not choose either one, and Larten became panicked as the seconds slipped away. In the end, Larten chose to tread upon a treacherous path—tying his last breath to the boy's slipping soul.
"Excuse me, but...what are the consequences of..." Matthias began.
"Oh, plenty, my boy," Mr Tiny replied. "One of them includes that if there is a slight mistake in the process, when he dies, his soul would be stuck on earth, and you wouldn't be here today. No, no profit there for both." Mr Tiny took out his heart-shaped watch and stayed silent. All of a sudden, a bright crimson light emanated from the watch, making it seemed to be engulfed with it. After a few seconds, the bright light died down, and in its place was a circular pocket watch—silver in colour—and bore the symbol of a...black heart-like geometric design?
"What's that?" Matthias breathed. He felt as if he had seen a pocket watch that looked as similar as this one, but where?
"Ah, that is what I'm going to tell you," Mr Tiny smiled crookedly. He slowly reached inside his robe and fashioned out an old newspaper article. "Here, read this first."
Matthias carefully took it and skimmed through the article. Unlike other vampires, he can read and write, and was fluent in three languages, namely English, Japanese, and German.
Coincidentally, the newspaper cutting was typed in German, and Matthias read it in silence. When he was done, he looked at the picture at the bottom-left corner of the article, and seemed deadpanned.
"What...was that...me?" he squeaked. He squinted even closer to get a closer look.
"Careful, boy," Mr Tiny chuckled. "You want to damage your eyes?"
Matthias looked up at Mr Tiny and said confusingly, "I...I don't get it...the Thule Society busted for its crimes...and one of them is because of the murder of Alphonse Heinerich...shot...but, h-he looked like me, almost..." Suddenly, something snapped into place in his mind. "Mr Tiny, is that guy...me?" He looked at the picture again. "I'm...Edward Elric?"
"Afraid so, but that is not all there is to it." Mr Tiny held out his watch, its chain still around his neck. "Open it. You will hear voices that will help you with your insight of your past even more."
Matthias reluctantly obeyed and did as he was told. As soon as he opened the watch's cover, bright light covered him completely. He closed his eyes so as not to get blinded by it. As he did, as Mr Tiny had said, he could hear voices of people talking, and frighteningly enough, one of the voices belonged to him!
"Alchemy, the science of understanding the structure of matter. Breaking it down, then reconstructing it as something else. It can even make gold from lead. But Alchemy is a science, so it must follow the natural laws: To create, something of equal value must be lost. This is the principle of Equivalent Exchange. But on that night, I learned the value of some things can't be measured on a simple scale. My brother and I knew the laws of science, of Equivalent Exchange, that gain required sacrifice, that something had to be taken from us. But we thought there was nothing more we could lose. We were wrong." He was the one who said that! But when?
"S-Sora, RUN!!!"
"Wh-what about you, Ed? You were..."
"Look Sora, I'm a Nobody. That bloody Ansem—"
"Xehanort's Heartless, you mean?"
"The very same. That bloke had divided me into half; a Nobody and a bloody Heartless! I'm the Nobody, okay? If there is any hope for recovery, I have to meet my Heartless self and fuse back...Oh my god, they're here! Go now!"
"I won't leave you.."
"I SAID NOW!!!"
That was all he heard before the loud rumbling noise of gunshots deafened him and he fainted.
"Mr Tiny, I am Edward Elric, that as much I knew. But...which part am I?"
Mr Tiny thought this question over carefully before he answered confidently, "You're his Heartless side." He prodded the firewood in front of him with a stick. "See, my boy? You're unique—you're unlike any of the Heartless, and you are definitely not like the other vampires. That's why I've got my eye on you and decide to help you out, dear boy."
"Well, that's very kind of you," Matthias mumbled. "But...there's still plenty I don't just get it. Do you...can you go over it for me again? My mind's all meddled."
"Happy to oblige," Mr Tiny said amusedly. "You were originally born into a world as similar as the one we live in today, as Edward Elric. Oh, I must say that you were a right trouble-maker way back then!"
"What...what have I done?" Matthias (or Edward, he wasn't so sure) asked.
"Ah, that you must learn by yourself. That is, assuming that you'll succeed in the end." Mr Tiny remembered where his re-telling stopped just now and continued.
"You came into this world for a reason only you would know of, and made friends with our luckless Mr Heinerich for some reason. At a certain point, not accounted in any history records, you secretly came across another friend, who was also from another world—not from yours, mind.
"Sora," Matthias whispered.
"Ah, so you knew," Mr Tiny grinned.
"N-Not really. I called his name..well, sort of.." His voice faltered. "You know, I always thought that to know the truth behind my past would be something wonderful, but now, all I can say that it's giving me a big socking headache."
" 'Be careful with what you wish for', is what my Uncle Ermine used to say," Mr Tiny said. He laughed when he saw the bewildered look on Matthias' face. "Just joking, boy—I don't have an Uncle Ermine, of course!"
"Oh."
"Shall I continue?"
"Yes, please."
"When you met Sora, the boy asked for your assistance to aid him in his battle against Ansem, a Heartless as well, belonging to a pitiful nuisance named—"
"Xehanort?" Matthias finished for the meddler.
"Will you stop interrupting me?" Mr Tiny snapped.
"My apologies," Matthias quickly said.
"Apology accepted," Mr Tiny grumbled. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, Ansem. Despite your exceptional powers and extraordinary abilities, you'd somehow lost to the hands of the even-greater Heartless. In your dying moments, for reasons unknown, Ansem separated you, creating both a Heartless form of yourself and a Nobody version of you. He left you like that, lying pitifully on the ground, then. Strangely enough, the Heartless form—that was you—received all the injuries and wounds inflicted while the Nobody was all right and in full health. The Nobody, resuming the identity you both originally hailed from as Edward Elric, found a way to return to his world not long from that incident. As for you, well, fate had it that Larten saw you during one of his journeys and came over to help. When you could not decide for yourself—still in a state of numbness, I suppose—he performed the Final Breath on you.
"It is suffice to say that the whole thing was a success, and he laid you close by an abandoned castle in Germany to remain until the time comes. You see, the Final Breath works like this: the host 'ties' the ending part of his breath to your heart and can leave you be as you are. When he dies, his life will stream into you, and voila! you are up and kicking. Got it all so far?"
Matthias weakly nodded. So that was how he came to live as a vampire. Out of the pittance of another vampire. Matthias decided to clear away all uncertainties tonight with Mr Tiny whilst he still could.
"Mr Tiny," Matthias slowly asked. "Why would Mr Crepsley do that? He could've just walk away, hands clean."
"Maybe because he has a heart," Mr Tiny joked. Then his expression turned grim. "Yes, that's true, my boy. Larten had not a heart to leave in you in such a state, Matthias Reign. He knew what had happened, but he had come by too late, and there was nothing much he could do by then. At least by doing so, you will have the chance to rise up and clear all the confusion before death truly lay its hands on you. Larten thought that once you were up, you can toddle along and find your Nobody self, fuse back into one, and continue your life until the true ending comes. By doing so, he also indirectly passes on his legacy to you."
"L-Legacy?" Matthias repeated.
"Indirectly," Mr Tiny said firmly.
"Then...well, never mind."
"Go on, boy. Say what's in your mind."
"How did I became Matthias Reign, then? I journeyed to Vampire Mountain, the supposed-holy place for all vampires, got stuck with the preliminaries to become a General, became a General and travelled across the globe for thirteen years to serve my purpose, then came back for...for this!"
Mr Tiny sighed. "Perhaps I should pour in my opinions now, then. Streams of fate has never been like this, and I must say that I'm quite inept in handling it. But I have a few theories myself that would perhaps clear the fog. The Final Breath is often performed on humans, and naturally it worked in a way that the receiver of the spell can remember what happened to him or her before he or she died, and could do with whatever they wanted to about it. I don't attach feelings of condamnation to such petty matters.
"But in your case, you were a Heartless when Larten Crepsley performed the Final Breath on you. Perhaps because of that, you do not behave like other Heartless. In fact, you are more like Ansem; you can think and organize and plan on your own. Unfortunately, you did not remember your past and all that links to it. Perhaps—here's another one that I think may come up close to the truth—all of your memories have gone to your other self, the Nobody. That's why you couldn't remember." Mr Tiny patted at his own small self. "And that's why I'm here for, boy. So that all of Larten's efforts are not gone to waste."
Matthias pulled himself together and rose up. He took out his hand to shake with Mr Tiny's. "Well, thank you so much, Mr Tiny. At least, that's one of my worries solved."
"You're certainly right about that, boy," Mr Tiny said with a wide grin. "One of your worries. We are not done yet. Apparently, you have something else much more larger to accomplish."
Matthias remembered then. "Oh, right! The war! Well?"
"Sit first and I'll tell you all about it...no, wait." Mr Tiny thought over again and said, "Come with me. We'll enter the Hall of the Princes and share the news with your fellow Princes. Don't worry, my Little People will extinguish the fire and clean up the spot—we have a lot to discuss with your fellow Princes. They shouldn't just lie in their coffins while you fight to the death in the upcoming war."
"Are we going to have to fight...an army of Heartless?" Matthias asked slowly.
Mr Tiny stopped walking and looked at the young General—now a young Prince—amusingly in the eye. "You have an uncanny sense of viewing things, Matthias Reign. Perhaps you would fancy to take over my place as a meddler if fate is kind to spare you?"
"Perhaps," Matthias mumbled, hoping that whatever happens in the end, he would not be granted the offer.
"Tiny," Vancha said quietly. "Are you saying that for us to win the war, we would need to acknowledge Matthias Reign as a Vampire Prince?"
"By that way, you are very most likely to gain victory in the war. Of course, there's always another choice—doing the opposite. But don't run to me begging and sobbing yourselves silly into a sodden wreck when you witness for yourselves the aftereffects of the war," Mr Tiny said with a smile.
Arrow opened his mouth again to speak, but was side-cornered for the twelfth time by Mika. "Not that we disagree with what you say, Tiny," said Mika. "But...it's just so hard for us to believe that he is going to be a Prince! He doesn't like being in here—heck, you should have known that!"
Mr Tiny shook his head. "That isn't all that I see that is bothering you. I take it that you are not comfortable with the fact that he is...literate and scientifically gifted?"
The three Vampire Princes shuffled their feet nervously on the ground. Matthias realized that the news of him being able to transmute metal into gold had reached them. Who was the culprit who had told?
"That was all due to natural ability before being a vampire," Mr Tiny went on.
"That's not it!" Mika began. "He...he also attached himself to human civilization!"
"Wha...what makes you think of that?" Matthias asked, surprised.
"You sang songs you heard from the civilization, isn't that the proof?" Vancha pointed out. "Some of the vampires who met you in their travels for the past few months claimed that you sang...uh..."
Vancha needed not have bothered about explaining what had Matthias done, because not long after that, a few group of female vampires passed by the Hall and began singing.
"When I look back upon my life
It's always with a sense of shame
I've always been the one to blame...
"Oh," Matthias chuckled. "That."
"See here, the lad thinks it's funny!" Mika bellowed. "You ignorant, lousy little—"
"Mika Ver Leth," Mr Tiny cautioned.
"—feisty ungrateful SHRIMP!"
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A WEENY-SIZED BEAN?!"
BOW! CRASH! BOINK! DUSH! WHOOSH!
A few moments later, Mr Tiny, Arrow, and Vancha March were looking at a bedraggled Mika Ver Leth on the floor, terribly bruised and defeated in the hands of a very ferociously-looking Matthias Reign. He clearly was not satisfied yet.
"I am many things, Ver Leth, but I am not—" the young Vampire Prince-to-be kicked the poor Vampire Prince in the family jewels.
Mika yelped in pain.
"—a SHRIMP!!!" Matthias looked as if he was going to spat on the Vampire Prince, but then his manners got the better of him, and he helped Mika to stand up instead.
"Don't call me that again," Matthias whispered menacingly as he let Mika leaned on him, and helped the poor Vampire Prince to his seat. He then looked around and decided to squat on the floor.
"Old habits die hard," Mr Tiny said through bursts of laughter. "Oh, I can see what a fun age of reign amongst the vampires we're going to have this time." The meddler controlled himself and they resumed their earlier conversation. "So, I hope that we shall now agree to have Matthias Reign as another Vampire Prince?"
"Yes," Arrow replied coolly.
"Aye," Vancha said, getting a look from Mika, who was still doubling over in pain. "Look on the bright side, Mika—the boy's going to bring us loads of smiles and laughter!"
Mika realized that the vote was mostly on Matthias. "Yeah, yeah, he's a Prince," Mika grumbled.
"Excellent!" Mr Tiny exclaimed. "Now I must be off."
"What, you mean now?" Matthias asked.
"Of course! Weren't you listening to me before?" Mr Tiny said.
"But it's due in a week's time."
"Still, I'm going there—the sooner the better. Why wait?"
"Oh, okay, if you have too."
"I must, dear Matthias," Mr Tiny said. "But don't worry; if fate is kind, we'll cross paths again. By the way, don't seek out the enemies, that's not what you're supposed to do. Ignore this, and your clan will perish, truly extinct from this world."
All three Vampire Princes and the Vampire Prince-to-be shuddered in fear.
"So stay here and relax, and tend to your duties as a Prince. The war will seek you out when the time comes."
"But, how will we know that?" Matthias asked.
"Look up to the sky and pray," was the meddler's reply. Mr Tiny left the four Princes and waved a goodbye without looking back. "Adios!"
"Well, that has certainly gone well," Arrow dryly commented after he was sure that the meddler was out of earshot. "Now, what of you three?"
"As a general rule, one of us should remain outside Vampire Mountain to check out with how our vampires are faring out there," Vancha began.
"Well," Arrow began. "I certainly can't go—I've taken up Paris' role as a Vampire Prince, sort of."
"That meddler said Paris' place is gonna be replaced by that shr—Matthias," Mika said between groans. Matthias, who had been eyeing all the Princes in the Hall with awe, came to Mika's side and patted the Prince's shoulder. "Does it hurt too much?"
"Yes!" Mika gasped. "Ooer, I think it's broken or something..."
Vancha doubled over as well, laughing so hard that it was a wonder that he did not fall off from his chair. Arrow simply smirked upon hearing the comment. Matthias, on the other hand, looked guilty. He slowly walked towards the further end of the Hall and picked up a small plant. He then laid it on the ground, clapped his hands once, and placed both palms on the floor.
WHOOSH! Blue-and-white electrical zaps emanated from the plant, and for a few minutes, the plant began to welt and reformed itself like clay. After the process was done, Matthias lifted his hands off and picked up the green crusts that he had transmuted from the plant. He walked towards Mika and handed it to him.
"What is this?" Mika asked.
"Ooh, so that's what the lads meant when they said you can t...what do you call that again?" Vancha asked.
"Transmutation," Arrow answered for Matthias. "A lovely art of the alchemy. I've heard that you can change many things into something else entirely by transmuting it."
"Yes," Matthias replied. "These are herbal crusts, Ver Leth. You take a few flakes of it and mix it into your drink—fresh water or blood, twice a day for three weeks. By then, your you-know-what will be healed completely and in full working order, providing fresh sperm for your intercourse."
"Sperm? Intercourse?" Vancha repeated.
"What are those?" Arrow asked as he leaned forward in interest.
"Perhaps...you will know soon enough," Matthias answered carefully.
"Now, back to the first question: who will stay and who will go?" Arrow asked again.
"Mika should stay for a while until he has healed," Vancha said. "I'll go."
"Since there are four of us, why not divide, eh?" Mika said as he broke some of the green crusts and kept the rest in a pouch he tied at the belt on his waist. "Arrow and I will stay here, while you and Vancha will go."
"But...what about the Initiation?" Matthias asked.
"Thought you'd never ask," Mika mumbled.
Arrow seemed thoughtful and debated this over by himself for a moment. "Fine, it's settled," he finally said. "Vancha will go out and monitor the progress of the vampires outside the Vampire Mountain for a few months. Matthias will join you shortly until he has passed the Trials of Initiation while Mika will join you in a four-weeks' time—by then, Matthias will return and take over Mika's place. We can embark on our assigned duties whenever all of you wanted to."
"How about those...what did Tiny call them again?" Vancha asked.
"Heartless," Matthias replied. "Don't worry—Mr Tiny said that fate will decide to throw them into our path when the time comes. If we go search for them, it's more likely that we will be doomed."
"Well then, how will we know when the lot of them decide to show up here?" Vancha demanded.
"Mr Tiny said that we should look up to the sky," Matthias replied. "He's leaving a clue there—I think we should do just that."
"What will we find by then, eh?" Mika demanded.
Matthias shrugged. "Who knows—a strange storm, a missing star, a meteor—something like that, guess." The would-be Vampire Prince rose up and drew himself to a full height, then said, "Okay, I agree with Sire Arrow. I will start for the Trials as soon as possible."
"Like Tiny said, the sooner the better," Vancha agreed. "I'll go tomorrow."
"It has been decided, then," Arrow said. "Good. Let us rest for now and meet up again tomorrow here."
Matthias Reign started for the door when Arrow called out, "Matthias! Since now you're a Prince, your place is no longer the tents outside. Pick up any of the rooms in the Hall, it's yours to choose."
Matthias' first thought was to find a coffin, and the only coffin left in the Hall of the Princes was Paris', but then he saw the fixed stares of Mika Ver Leth and Vancha March, and he realized that the Princes were still not convinced and not comfortable with him yet. Then he remembered a small room no bigger than a closet which he found once.
"I'll take the hammock," Matthias replied quietly as he slowly lowered his gaze to the floor.
Vancha snorted. "A vampire who sleeps in beds. How wonderful."
"Hush, Vancha," Arrow snapped. He turned back to Matthias and said warmly, "Very well, you may take Darren Shan's room."
"Darren's?" Vancha perked up suddenly. But before any of the three Princes manage to say anything, Matthias had already left them and started towards the room that used to be Darren Shan's.