Au: Finally, we got to a very interesting part of the story, hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. ^_^
Chapter 7
Opening my eyes, I stared at the portrait of the famous bloody Carmella whom I had put into eternal sleep all those centuries ago. The memory of the whole event was still fresh as if it was yesterday that it took place. I could still feel the steel of the sword which Dracula had lent me that day upon my fingertips, and the tension he and I went through in this castle when I was about to strike the sword into her black heart…
Yes all came back to me like a rush of cold water running through my veins. All was clear as the daylight, but there was one single detail that I had forgotten and was that memory which was still vague in the back of my mind;
That little boy in my memory;
That boy whom I recall being the Young Lord, he was one missing puzzle piece that I found so vital to recall, but my memory kept failing me.
I rather prefer to recall that child since he sounded like my old nemesis' son… surely it does sound important to remember him, especially when I was in charge of him.
Plus raising him my friend!
Drowned in the world of oblivion _which displayed images of my long past_ I got snapped violently back from my reverie when my heels connected to the marble ground in the massive basement, echoing the clicking in the damp and wet place. The sound of water drops filled the area, and along the squeaking of mice, they were the only sounds which one could hear. No sign of living I found except for dead skeletons covered in damp moisture and spider webs.
In comparison to the upper surface of the mansion, down here does not hold such a pleasant view.
"Nane…"
Whirling around on my heels, I drew my gun and pointed at where I had accurately expected the source of sound coming from. But there was nothing to aim at…
The spot was empty…
I imagined things… Roughly scoffing with irritation, I lowered my weapon.
Watching the vacated place one last time, I sharpened my calm senses and found no source of breathing creature here below. Scolding, I was about to withdraw when I heard the voice again…
"Nane…" This time, it came from behind me. Turning my body in an angry twist, I only caught a glimpse of long wavy auburn hair flying past me and nothing more.
I swear it sounds as if… a child is calling. But who is… Nane?
"Damn it, I better get going before-" my words caught in my lungs for I spotted a little child not more than seven or nine years sitting formally on the ground with his back facing me, wearing his best Noble clothes.
Eeck! I think it's a ghost?!
Advancing the harmless child, I smelt no smell from him, concluding it being nothing but just a phantasm. Snapping two fingers with a spark of magic unleashing, the ghost vanished before the boy turned to face me completely. Shaking my head in disappointment, I cursed Carmella's cowardice manners for hiding behind a bunch of hunted souls and ghosts and let them do the dirty job instead of showing herself and fight in person.
Suddenly, a nauseous aura began to imitate from the place, engulfing and tingling my dark senses. It was a bad sign and hesitating to chat with the dead and a few dead skeletons was fruitless. My eyes found the spiral stairs at the end of the hall and before I knew it, I made a wild run toward them, ascended the stairs, and returned to the top floor.
The place smelt of death, was filled with phantasms and demons, and more importantly, the presence of the evil Countess was drawing near. I could sense it…
That bloody wench is about to awaken….damn! She probably got herself the source of vital stream _Which of course means blood, REAL and A LOT of blood_ and is regenerating her physical form.
Hurryyyyy!
"I need to find that tomb again. Hopefully, she spares me the trouble and hasn't changed her bedroom from the last time I had been here!" my feet were nearly flying while dashing through the corridors and grand halls.
On my way to the basement which lead to a mirror- a tactful maneuver for a vampire- contained a hidden passage way to the underground tomb where she resided her grave. Reaching the end of the hall, I sprinted over some dark spirits and bat like demons, fighting them and slicing them off with ease.
We don't have time for this! Hurry!
I know! I'm hurrying already. And you better shut up! Hearing you brag about it makes it even more worse!
Reaching the handle and nearly pulling the double doors from their locks, I was shocked to find that the door lead to the underground basement which I was just a few seconds ago.
Damn! She is utilizing Spiral Time!
She wants to trap us here…
"Don't tell me I will only run into cycles here," I looked around the grand hall. "And come back at this stinky underground prison?!" shutting the doors with a loud bang echoing throughout the place, I saw a few bats awaken by the sound.
They all assembled and began flying in a form of a tornado, from bottom to top they materialized the form of the bloody Countess. I sneered vehemently at her.
"My my! Fancy seeing you here after such long centuries!" She smiled maliciously.
"Funny, I was about to say the same thing about you when you were supposed to play actually DEAD after such long centuries!" I sarcastically imitated her sultry voice.
The room was filled with hideous pitchy laughers, making my ears throb from the volume. "You still have the folly to be so rude! Although, in comparison to that time, you look more… human." She observed keenly.
"Well, I have one thing for you, don't underestimate your opponent." I drew my twin blades and stood in my fighting stance.
"I see. You are just as he is… too stubborn to reason with your kind. Well," she raised her hand while I held the blades closer in defense. "My only option for you is to utilize the same method as I shall for him. My only option is to use force." And with one gentle swing of wrist, lightning began crashing down my head.
Dodging the first few, I saw them coming faster with every strike. Use force, right! I swung my blades and cut through the string of zigzag bolts as fast and agile as I could. It was going well enough until she trapped me with a continuous group of them, forming like a jail, neighing the bars toward me. Before I could move or teleport they closed in, trapping me in an electronic sphere.
"You should have known better to take in on me, a true noble, in your noble form, human." She burst into another series of high intonated laughers. "At least you proved to take on me seriously while the hunter is on his knees_" before she finished her dramatic speech, the sphere exploded like a bubble and sent the waves back to her.
Carmella was left with no other means of escape but to dematerialize, her form began to turn into millions of tiny bats and flutter here and there like fragmented puzzle pieces. When the entire waves diminished, the Countess stood in front of me with agape mouth again. "How did you…"
The smoke faded and I stood before her in my demoness form, the one she last time laid eyes before the sword had pierced her heart. Long knee-length red mane danced in fury, and my elegant murky gown hugged my feagure from neck to toe. In my hand, I held a small copy of that thundering sphere, the bolts dancing around my fingers like rings and bracelets around my wrist.
"You have and interesting ability to use thunder as your weapon of choice in magic field." I cooed.
"You can't_" her eyes widened and the pupils of her eyes were as slit as possible.
"I can as you see," I began to move my fingers and changing the size of that glowing beautiful sphere in my palm. "I always had the ability to absorb the attack of enemies, analyze them, and/or make them taste their own power."
"You DEMON!" She howled and came flying toward me in full speed.
"Now, I will teach you the true power of a demon, you bloody cockroach!" The electric ball began to grow in both voltage and size, deducing to prison her in the same sphere but stronger in order to see her wiggle in it or crisp like a bug. Thus, before I could perform my attack, she screamed as if in pain and flew through me, bursting into a gust of black dust and silence greeted me.
WHAAAAT!
"What the?!" I frowned incredulously. "I assume that someone had already taken care of her." If that haunted spirit had suddenly vanished so painfully, then the only reason behind it was another person- probably the mentioned hunter- had found her grave and killed her before me.
Knocking back from my reverie, I made a wild run to the double doors, finding them leading me back to the main grand halls which lead to the outdoors. The ground began to shake violently and the great noble mansion started to crumble. A sign that the Noble owner was dead and the magical spell which had kept the place intact was diminishing. Nothing to hold unto as its cantilever, the building would fall apart until there shall be nothing left but an old ruin.
Coming to a halt when I spotted the cracked portrait of the bloody Countess, I drew my gun out when I saw a Noble man, with white spiked hair which ended in a blue ribbon from behind, dressed in fine clothes, holding a human woman, assuming the only daughter of the Elbourne family in his arms.
I could see the tiny string of vermillion that ran down her neck and realization struck me; that bat had sucked the blood of this innocent human in order to get back to life. Poor soul!... I sighed when I saw how pale and exhausted she looked.
Wench! She had sucked her dry!...
"Charlotte, please come back. I need you, please… Come back!" I heard the man nearly begging in anxiety from her to respond to him. The way he was desperately looking at her made me feel a pang of guilt form in my chest.
Where have I seen such scene before?!
SHUT UP!
The young lady slowly caressed the pale complex of the vampire, opening her tired eyes. "Darling is that you?" Came her weak response.
"Oh yes!" His European accent was nearly inaudible by the way his voice trembled. "It's me, Meier."
"Oh I am so happy Meier, because we are together now… at last."
"Yes, together… …at last." More pain stabbed me like a sharp knife. The way she was neighing to death and how desperate the lonely vampire was holding like dear life to her hand, made my heart ache in sympathy for them.
"You let me dream… you let me dream to our trip to the stars." Her young beautiful face held a weak smile.
"No it's not a dream anymore. You and I will get away from here where you can rest, my love finally, and be free." The Noble known as Meier, squeezed the hand of the beautiful maiden known as Lady Charlotte gently.
"Yes, freedom… …at last." And with that, her eyes shut for eternity and her face slept like a snow white, frozen in time.
I hadn't realized, but my gun was long pointed away, my heart was throbbing in pain by the sad tragedy which occurred before my eyes, and when the face of the Noble fell into her own and mourned the loss of his beloved, I couldn't stand it anymore. I withdrew my glance and spotted a young girl with short blond her wearing a tight red suit with a huge gun in hand.
Walking to her, I gently laid a hand on her weapon and beckoned it to withdraw. At first she hesitated and looked at me with a feeling of defense, but when I gazed at the couple, she also looked intensely at them.
"My precious… precious love." Came the mourning sound of the noble man.
Such a sad ending for them… they both deserved each other…
"Let's go… let us continue the journey." My eyes stung with the tears that started to dance gently.
Even now, he refuses to give up… no man would ever go this far for their love! And they call nobles heartless! They have more heart than humans.
The young woman and I watched as the vampire noble, Meier, took the lifeless body of Charlotte and began to slowly walk toward the stairs when he suddenly stopped.
"Stop right there Meier." The sound of another party began to echo soothingly but with enough authority in the hall. Another crack appeared behind me and the girl, as if signaling the presence of the young man cloaked in black spoke of an unearthly aura. My eyes narrowed dangerously. "I will take her back to her family… whom they loved her."
After a brief hesitation from the taller Noble, Meier answered. "She knew that I loved her best of all. You can't understand D. You never loved a human." Meier laid the young lady, like a fragile porcelain doll on the head of the stairs and began gazing at it like an artist admiring his most treasured jewel.
"I never killed one either." Came the cold like ice response of the brown haired man, appearing to be a hunter.
"You try to resist this nature of ours, but it can't last forever D. The urge for their blood is stronger."
"And when that day comes, another will hunt me. It's as simple as that."
Did you hear that? Hunting HIM? What is the youth sayi_
Uh oh! Why do I have this feeling that an ugly battle will start! Oh no…
And I how I hate for being right! For a brief glance, Meier's eyes blazed with an unearthly glow which spoke of enmity; the blazing emotions finally kicked to the surface and since the young hunter was in his way, the Noble vampire lashed out at him finally.
The sound of steel grazing the marble floor echoed through the still crumbling mansion; Meier's cape had formed into huge wings, strong and immaculately strong as if turned into steel… or precisely, into sharp and deadly swords of their own. I saw the young hunter leap away in time to dodge the flying attack from his opponent, flying like a mystic bird in the air before another attack was launched. The hunter blocked it with a wee difficulty since the brute force behind it was massive, and sent him off balance for a brief moment.
Landing distressed on the ground, the brown-mane youth quickly gained composure and leaped back again when Meier's right wing came slicing through a pillar which seemed like as thick as an Oak tree's body. My eyes widened when the result of the attack made the pillar being nicely cut and slipped from one side, hunching from its own tremendous weight. The room soon echoed another sound of steels being clashed in a chaotic hit; the long silver sword of the hunter grazed the left wing of the Noble man, engaging in a deadly duel.
While I was at awe how those two were keeping up with another's strength, my admiration grew more; for it had been so long since I had witnessed such severe battle occur merely in an honorable fashion. The scenery was fatal, hellish, yet somehow… beautiful!
I wasn't sure about the hunter, since his strength and agility proved quite being inhumanly performed, yet could handle a VAMPIRE well enough on his own.
Maybe he is also a vampire but decided to turn his back on them for the sake of mankind… another cliché story I presume. I scoffed bemused at the thought.
Suddenly, the abrupt movement of the young girl beside me brought me back from my reverie; the young confused and weary blond huntress advanced the corpse of the beautiful lady Charlotte. She bent beside her and looked sadly at the brunette's sleeping pale face. "What a sad waste!" her face turned toward the youths still having their mighty weapons engaged. I could easily see a small glow forming from the spot their weapons had collided, making it fume and grow red from the force, followed by mere sparks of light which emitted.
I looked back at the huntress, she was drowned in sadness and grief of her own. Yes, a sad, sad waste indeed! I somehow sympathized with the poor couple whom their endeavors had proved so futile. Another unfortunate soul, victimized by world's cruelty….
I saw the young girl holding the pale hand of the lifeless lady and took the ring from her ring finger. "Enough of this misery, and death." She clutched the item tightly in her fist. She roes in her full height and regarded the males still collided in their deep battle; the heat between the weapons had grown beyond bear which resulted in merely Meier's wing get creaks and stepping for the bridge of shattering. "I had ENOUGH!" the frustrated huntress finally threw the golden ring, which headed toward the youths.
Finally, a battle cry escaped the older youth, the hunter dodged another sudden attack which was faster than an ordinary human could witness with naked eyes. The noble man leaped into the air while the hunter pursued with the same speed. Time seemed to slow down as the naked sword of the black-clad hunter gleamed in the dim light of the mansion, heading straight toward the elderly noble. The sight was beyond extraordinary, for when Meier swooped into the air, he managed to merely vanishing from sight, becoming invisible yet, this hunter managed to see him even without disturbance at all. He knew where his invisible target flew, where he stood midair, and where to strike…his heart!
The sound of ripped flesh and armor molded the death silence and both males became visible as a gasp escaped the bewildered blond woman. The sword had hit its mark; it had gone past through the noble's shoulder, ripping garment and flesh together. Meier had his metallic clawed hand extended as if aiming for the hunter too, but failed to land his blow since the brunette youth had dodged it by kneeling on one knee, poising perfectly to land his attack.
"Why…d-did you miss… …my…h-h-heart?!" The silver haired vampire stuttered as I felt my eyes widen at the hunter's choice of action.
He spared him… but why?
However, I did not feel any ill attentions from the young hunter at all; he had a very GOOD reason why he let the man live. As a result of this gallant manner, I smiled in approval at the hunter and decided to do what I thought was best at that moment. I spotted the girl in red suit standing further away from the corpse, watching the awe striking scenario between the strong males.
Kneeling in front of the beautiful corps of the young lady, I frowned in sympathy. If only the Noble Vampire had not hastened so much, his haste would have not leaden to mistake. This tragedy was nothing worth for either of them to bear; especially this young girl. I held a fist close to my mouth and breathed into it, letting it glow as if a blue candle light was kept in my fist. I reached for the Charlotte and held the glowing fist above her heart, watching as the small flame seeped into her chest.
That will do for now… I smiled approvingly.
"She's dead." I stood when I heard the masculine deep voice which came from the hunter. I saw a glimpse of the golden ring rolling down his sword and falling gently in his palm, "The ring is all I need." He clenched his hand into a fist. "I'll take it to his father… …as proof." And with that said, the young man sheathed his long sword and walked past the still hunched noble whom I assumed held his heart more out of the pain rather of regret and despair.
The quickening of the ground grew more and the piles of stone and dust rained down on us mercilessly, warning of the mansion soon to collapse. Without more hesitation, I walked to the blond woman, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder to gain her back from what reverie she was prisoned. She jerked toward me and I signed her to leave the place.
Starting for a run, which we both decided to follow the trail the hunter went a few ten steps further than us, we both soon found a better exit and left the mansion. Our final door was the vast monstrous gate which was watched by two statue hands which closely resembled Carmella's.
Running out of the gate, I felt the final spell which Carmella had cast in those hands to hold the inner civilians captive inside her doomed mansion shatter and set us free.
To my surprise the sun beamed brightly, the blue sky was as clear as water, and no clouds could be seen in the immaculate blue. The beautiful golden rays washed and cleansed the curses, darkness, and malice Carmella had left behind in her castle. Everything was feeling anew and fresh and I was enjoying the gradual scent of diminished death, replaced with the sweet scent of the cool breeze of the outer world.
Watching the falling castle from its utmost glory, we stood there slightly panting from running and gazed at the crumbling mansion.
I guess it's farewell then?
I sighed almost out of relief and thrill. Yes, it was finally over…
Farewell, Countess Carmella… bloody Countess of Nobles.
To be continued...
Au: It took me a while till I finished it. I apologize if it has errors... I would much appreciate your wonderful reviews and comments, so don't be shy and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading it for it means a lot to me. Arigato!
Vampire Hunter D belongs to Hideyuki Kikuchi
Roxana belongs to Me ^_^
