Purestrongpoem: Sorry for the long wait, here is chapter 2. I am sorry if Vancha sound a little ooc. I don't own any Darren Shan Cirque du Freak's characaters. Enjoy.

Chapter 2

Vancha groaned as he held his head in pain. He tried to sit up but he felt a strong wave of pain came over and lied back down. Why was he in so much pain? Right, he remembered. He was stabbed by his brother.

"I wouldn't move around that much if I were you."

Vancha slowly opened his eyes and saw Truska sitting on his bed holding a few bloody bandages.

"Truska? What happened?" he asked in her language

"You found you lying on the ground unconscious. We quickly brought you back to the camp and treated you," she replied back.

"And what happen to the battle? What happen to Darren...and Steve?"

Truska was silent. Her eyes looked away and met the floor.

"Truska, please tell me."

"Darren...Darren is dead."

Vancha was silent. He couldn't believe it. "No...no...it can't be...that would mean..."

"We lost. The vampires has lost and the Lord of the Shadows is going to rise and destroy the world."

"I have failed."

"Vancha, this is not your fault. You didn't failed. You tried your best. Mr. Tiny was there, he always have a hand in these things."

"But still, if only I could have been quicker and..."

"It doesn't matter. Vancha, you can't linger in regret of what you can't do in the past. It is done. Even if you did do something different, how sure are you that the result of the battle might change. Mr. Tiny was there and he could have done anything to make sure the battle was in his favour."

Vancha tried to hold back the tears. 'I know, but, but..."

"It is ok, just cry. Tonight was a terrible loss," Truska said, softly as she patted his back.

XXX

Steve looked around as they continued walking. It was dark but Mr. Tiny had provided light using his magic. He looked around and saw different shapes moving, showing different frightening shapes and the walls were bulging towards them as they passed by.

"Remember to stay by our side. You don't want to stray. If you do, well, let's just say it will not be a pleasant experience," he said with a smile on his face that made Steve shivered.

His mind was still burning with curiosity and he decided to press on with his question.

"Why? What are those shapes?"

"They are creatures of universal chaos. They are my kin and are imprisoned by the temporal and spatial laws of the universe. If a person would ever strayed away and into their hands, your life would be even worse than what do humans call it, right, hell."

"A millennia of torment in the Lake of Souls would be like a pleasant hour spent on a beach. That is how cruel these monsters are," Evanna added.

Steve nodded in fear. From then on, he stuck even closer to his father and Evanna.

Finally, after walking for around one or two hours, the tunnel had ended and they had reached Mr. Tiny's cave. Steve looked around in confusion. He didn't expect to see what he was seeing right now. The cave was filled with waterfalls, stalagmites, stalactites, and other different and strange colour rocks. He looked to the right and saw a few old cars floating in midair, circling each other and to the left were mannequins dressed up in costumes from different centuries. There were also famous works of arts, sculptures as they kept going. Steve never thought Mr. Tiny was the type to collect these boring things. As they kept going, he saw some brains in glass case. He grinned as he saw those. Who knew that Mr. Tiny collect brains as well? He looked down at a few labels and recognized them as a few famous musicians. So it seemed he only collected brains of famous musicians. If he was Mr. Tiny, he would collect the brains of famous warriors or maybe his enemies as trophies. But then again, although collecting brains did seem interesting, he would be bored of it very quickly. They kept going and he saw so many things; some of them he was interested while some he wasn't. There were weapons, jewellery, toys, tools, stamps, bottles of vintage wine and so many more. He rolled his eyes, when he saw toys. Why would Mr. Tiny be interested in collecting toys? He laughed when he saw the jewellery. He never knew Mr. Tiny had a feminine side which actually disturbed him a little. When he saw the weapons, his eyes gleamed in excitement. He wanted to stay longer to see the weapons more closely but Mr. Tiny ushered him away.

"I know you are excited by my collection but in no circumstances, are you to touch any of my collection? Is that clear?"

Steve scoffed, "As if I am interested in touching your boring collection."

However, when he saw Mr. Tiny's glare, his smirk quickly disappeared. They continued walking until they reached the center of the cave. There was a small pool of green liquid. He bend down to have a better look at it but Mr. Tiny stopped him.

"That is the soup of creation. You don't want to fall in there," he warned.

Steve took a step back away from the pool. He saw a chair by the wall and decided to sat there. He was exhausted from the fight and the long walk. Evanna laid Gannen down on a nearby bed and went off. She came back with bandages and started to treated Gannen. He groaned but still remained unconscious. While Evanna was treating Gannen, Steve stared at the bandages. He want to get them but he had no idea where the first aid was and he didn't want to get it from Evanna. Mr. Tiny took a glance at him and then looked at Evanna. She met his look and then sighed. She quickly finished bandaging Gannen's wound and went over to Steve. Steve tensed when she came to him. She ignored his confused look and started to bandage his wounds. As she bandaged his wounds, Steve kept looking over at Gannen. He wasn't worry about Gannen at all. It was just he didn't want to look at Evanna or Mr. Tiny.

"Done."

Steve looked down at himself. Without looking at her, he muttered," Thanks."

She whispered back, "Don't thank me. I am only doing this because father told me to."

She stepped away from him and went back to Gannen. Steve looked at his father wondering what will happen next. While he was wondering, he frowned as he just realized something.

"Father...how can Darren be my half brother when he already has another father?"

"You mean Dermot Shan? He is not the real father of Darren. I impregnated Angela but they didn't know that."

Steve nodded. "So did my mother also know that you impregnated her or..."

"She didn't know. She assume it was Tim."

"Tim?"

"Your stepdad."

"He isn't my stepdad if he left me," Steve growled in anger. "But then again, you also left me..." Steve glared at him. "Why?"

Mr. Tiny only sat down on a nearby chair and smiled eerily at him.

"Well, just like you, I believe only the strongest can survive. I created two sons, you and Darren. From when you were born and even to now, I had always been watching you. Unlike Tim, I never left you. I was always there from when you started to walk, peed in your pants in kindergarten..."

Steve blushed in embarrassment when he mentioned that incident.

"When you confronted Darren about him betraying you, when you met the vampaneze and became their lord and until now. Even when you are growing up, I was there helping you."

Steve's eyes burned with anger. "Helping me? You never help me until you appear to me so many years after Darren betrayed me. Where were you when I needed you? I was in trouble so many times searching for information about vampires and training myself. Where were you?"

"As I said before, I was always there but you never knew. I had helped you many times before. I was the person in your head telling you to be wary of Darren after you got poisoned and got better."

Steve froze. He remembered a voice telling him that it was strange that he saw a boy and man in the hospital and that it wasn't his imagination."

"How about that time when you almost fell off the cliff. You were too busy fighting a vampire. If you didn't hear my warning in your head, you would have been dead."

Steve was silent. Mr. Tiny was telling the truth.

"I had been watching you and preparing both of you for the final battle. It was very interesting. In the end, you were the better one, you won. You deserved to be call my son."

"How about Darren? You don't think he is your son?"

Mr. Tiny's eyes glittered with interest. "You feel pity for him?"

"What? No! I don't feel pity for him. I hate him! He...he...betrayed me and..."

"I know! Now, aren't you happy? Everything you worked so hard for had come true. Larten Crepsley and Darren are dead by your hands. You had discovered who your father is and now you are the Lord of Shadows. You have the power to destroy the vampires or even have the world bowed at your presence."

"Or I could destroy the world, everyone would fear me."

He smiled as he said that. The smile slowly became a small laugh. Then, his laugh became louder and more insane. Mr. Tiny smiled at this development while Lady Evanna shook her head sadly.

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