I'm going to reply in the next chapter... but thank you so much for the reviews!! Makes me feel loved!!
Anyway, I officialy changed Dumas' personality. Go me.
Enjoy!!
27
"Get your fucking hands off me!!", shouted Lucian as he was dragged outside the Guild, to the black barrier in where the rest were waiting. "I will crush your fucking skulls, you damned furballs!!", he received a hard elbow hit on his jaw that made his nose bleed from it.
"Watch your fucking language with us, bloodsucker!!", shouted the one on his left. "Keep in mind you are all bandaged and at our mercy!"
"Yeah, sure, dickhead!!", another hit but Lucian didn't stop. "Untie me and let's fight to see who the fuck ends up as a mere pile of bones!!"
"Augh, just shut the fuck up!!", he gave him a third hit but got amazed at how his head resisted it. "For Moon's sake…"
Lucian snickered but was shoved on the ground after that. The same werewolves untied him from the normal handcuff. One of them grabbed his wrists and the other the ankles as Nidhoggr walked to them, with the same talisman in hand but looking extremely nervous and tense. He kneeled next to Lucian, who laughed.
"Ah, must be hard for you to be in the presence of such beasts.", he struggled a little.
"You should too.", said the one holding his arms. "After all, you are a vampire."
"He indeed is.", said Nidhoggr as he stuck his shinning hand into Lucian, who hissed. "But he is a different kind of vampire…"
The werewolves stood amazed how the boy took out from him the sword and impaled it on the vampire's body, starting the same process when they captured it. Once his body became wolf alike, the werewolves released him, watching him jump quickly away from them but stopping when Nidhoggr told him so. Lucian turned around, twitching his black ears, and growling, his tail high in the air. The vampire boy mumbled a second sentence and he changed again to the giant black wolf, with the ropes closing his snout and others preventing him from walking. Once he was ready, Nidhoggr moved into his machine and slipped away from the barrier with Lucian following, grudgingly, behind him. The rest did the same, as they all moved to Acuna once more.
As they predicted, the vampires were expecting them from some time now. After Alice told Ernest Oyan's move, he, Dumas and Nish started to move with a second, but more reduced, group of vampires for that night. They couldn't risk lives if this wasn't going to be the end. The humans were hiding behind the houses and the vampires in the shadows, as the werewolves told Oyan, who was waiting just in the frontline with Cyryl. At the auburn's nod, Nidhoggr told Lucian to move straight and Cyryl did the same with his other men, turning unto small wolves that run ahead of the huge black one.
Lucian walked; his mouth barely open as he looked up the bright and round Moon with his eight red eyes. His legs moved on their own, his body did Nidhoggr's will, just like with him… Ratatosk had controlled him for so long; he had felt that feeling of being a puppet for so long. He didn't know that the damned Nidhoggr was still alive, even less that he had copied Ratatosk's most powerful move. But that wouldn't be possible if he didn't still have one of his needles. Lucian growled, seeing that some wolves turned their heads to see him and then keep going. How he had missed them? How he could forget just one of them? He thought he had removed them all... Unless that, in the rush of getting outside the Vambery, they had forgotten one. Complaining over that will not help things any better they are now. He only hoped to find Dumas' scent and bring him the hell out of the shadows to tell him to retreat. The gunslingers weren't prepared to fight against werewolves with their rustic solar guns nor with the lack of a proper armor.
The opportunity stroked when the werewolves took another path to freely transform into humanoid wolves, as he kept walking forward. Then, he stopped, sniffing the air carefully. He looked at the shadows, one by one, until he saw him. With a growl and a forced move from his head, he dragged one of those shadows from its spot, just under his bigger one, dancing like a fire in a fireplace. Then, it formed the silhouette of Dumas, who looked at Lucian with fear in his eyes. He heard Ernest about the beast but didn't know it had so much power over darkness to actually oblige a vampire to come out. Just to say, no one really knew that this black wolf was actually Lucian.
"Re… treat…", said Lucian, panting. It was too much the pressure of the puppet spell and the ropes. "Dumas…"
"Lucian? What the fuck happened to you, then?!", shouted the horned vampire but was stopped by a hard breath of the wolf.
"Leave…", Lucian felt them. Dumas smelled them; his body tensed. "Were…wolves…"
"Shit!", he spun around and started to run. "Get the fuck out; Oyan got werewolves!!", just as he said that, several swift figures started to come out from everywhere.
But the vampires were so shocked, so scared, that couldn't move at the former Duke's words. Most of them got attacked by those humanoid wolves as Lucian attacked too, against his own will. He cursed and roared angrily as he stopped and turned around, opening his mouth and shooting a powerful, black flame attack to the werewolves just behind him. Their furs instantly burned as they moaned in pain and rolled on the floor trying to light it off as the others kept attacking. He saw Ernest shooting his gun, protecting the humans with him and solar guns that helped him in the retreat. The vampires followed closely behind, hiding in the shadows, barely doing anything. Lucian didn't blame them, but Ernest will probably be so pissed after this. The thought made him smile as he resisted Nidhoggr's spell.
Nish grabbed Ernest's legs and stuck him into the shadows, like the others did with the rest of the humans, to reappear into the Hideout. Bea and Kay frowned when they watched the vampires come so quickly from the fight and when they asked, they gasped upon the notice of werewolves joining with Oyan.
As Lucian predicted, Ernest got really mad at Nish and the others for retreating without his direct orders, but one of them told him that they couldn't fight against them just like that.
"Why?!", shouted Ernest, dropping his gun to the floor and kicking the closest chair. "Give me a fucking good reason to not kill you right now, Nish!"
The ice vampire whimpered, sighing.
"It's not something a human like you could understand, sadly.", answered. "Werewolves and vampires had been always in internal fight under the Moon's gaze since... well, forever. It's a battle for power to see which of the species it's the best."
"But who gave the orders to retreat?", asked, instead. He was going to finish that subject another time.
"The Duke.", said one behind Nish.
"And where is he?"
Everyone stood silent as they just realized that Dumas wasn't with them. Ernest saw how Nish's eyes widen in horror, thinking that he could still be outside, in Acuna, with the werewolves. The sole thought made his stomach shrink in fear.
"For fuck's sake!!", he shouted, spinning around. "The idiot! That fucking idiot!", he slipped his fingers into his hair. "I'm going back."
"You stay here!", said Ernest, standing in front of him. "You are one of the best here! I can not risk losing you! And I'm sorry if I sound like Oyan, but here your other partners had lost their families, friends and loves in this war!"
"It's not my problem if they hadn't done anything about that yet!", Nish showed his fangs to Ernest. "I'm going to do anything to save that idiot's ass and no fucking human like you will tell me what to do!!"
He turned around for a second time and bumped into Ezra.
"Nish, wait---", she was roughly shoved aside and he could already hear Toasty's curses for that. "Just fucking wait!!", yelled as she grabbed his wrists with force.
"If you try to stop me...", warned Nish.
"I'm going with you."
The albino vampire stood there, watching her. He then nodded and, hugging her, both of them disappeared in the shadows to return to Acuna. Both of them saw how Lucian was sniffing the hallways, like looking for someone. The other werewolves were walking around, too, excited. Nish looked at the Ice Terrennial and both of them knew that Dumas was still there, hiding, and alive. If not, then the enemy should have gone to its base long ago.
They watched how a silver furred werewolf just walked past them in the hallway but, being covered with Ezra's scent, he didn't bother with it. He kept walking and stopped when he heard a growl in the third hallway he passed. He walked in, hearing how the growling grew stronger. He saw four red eyes in the darkness and was about to attack when a crimson crescent moon shaped blade came spinning fast towards him. Unable to move freely in the small space, the attack cut his flesh deeply, making it bleed. A second and a third attack came and the enemy was kicked off from the street, whimpering in pain as he howled, calling for reinforcements. Dumas, who was there attending the vampire that was severely injured, cursed loudly as he slipped his arms on her waist and lifted her slowly. She actually wasn't in their group; she was hiding in her home, with her family because they didn't want to leave. But when the werewolves came, they pretty much slaughtered everyone except her that she could escape. But being also pregnant was hard for her to move around like that.
Dumas lifted her on his arms and looked around in a desperate way of escape. Then, he noticed around five or seven other werewolves standing just in front of them, growling and trying to get to them. The horned man hissed, showing his fangs, the woman tightening her arms around his neck. If he climbed, then the werewolves would climb faster from other side of the building and, being more fast than him seeing they didn't have to carry a pregnant woman, he would be in deep problems. If he stayed, he was risking not only his life for also the woman's and the child in her but it was the best, seeing that only one werewolf could go inside at the time. That gave them some time and space to hide before someone come to help them. But as minutes passed, the werewolves noticed they could climb up the walls in the hallway and attack at the same time. The horned man watched them as they did it and walked backwards, hissing angrily and throwing his Bloody Cutters all around the small space.
He and the woman managed to see a high column of ice rising just behind all the werewolves, some of them whimpering and moaning in pain. The ones inside the hallway turned around to help their partners, stopping right before a creature very much like their own but different at the same time. It had the same anatomical features like werewolves, especially on the legs and fur, but instead of having the common tail; it had one very lizard like, with spikes all along it and over its column. Even like this, it had fur instead of scales, but soon they noticed that he didn't have one, but two other tails too. He also had horns growing from his head and his deadly claws were pretty long. The fur was so bright and smooth at sight, from a very beautiful bluish color, with a white fluffy chest. The tails, looking closer, had also their tips white, like foxes. The creature roared and launched to the werewolves, hitting the closest and biting the one that jumped on him.
The creature stood over his back legs and shot ice attacks to any foe that dared to confront him, freezing their limbs to crush them, creating icy spears to impale them, small icy needles that pierced their skin and flesh or lowering the temperature from the ambient. Being vampires, Dumas and the woman didn't felt any change, but the werewolves were already trembling in cold. Cyryl, the coffee brown furred one, gave a snarl and everyone left behind him. Snow started to fall now, and Lucian, in the horizon, was also turning around, leaving Acuna for the moment. The creature, sniffing that no enemies were around, turned to Dumas and the other, slowly approaching. The woman hissed but the horned man told her to not worry about it.
"I can't believe you Trance with the Ice Terrennial.", there was some white and blue swirls around the creature, which glowed and shrank in size to a human and a small, floating form. "The more I know you, the more you amaze me Nish."
Nish grinned and flopped next to Dumas, petting his head. Then, he took a glance to the woman.
"Well, this is a good excuse to why you stayed in Acuna instead of running with us.", Dumas blushed in embarrassment as Nish took the woman into his arms. "I was so worried, damn it...", he sighed, closing his eyes. "We will talk once we are back, alright?"
The horned man only nodded, disappearing with Nish and Ezra.
Ernest told Bea to take care of the woman as he fought with Dumas about the order he gave without consulting, but Dumas replied it was the best seeing that neither him nor the other knew how to fight against the werewolves. Besides that, they didn't have armor to protect themselves from them. Ernest had anything to reply at that, so he only said he was glad he was still alive and left to his room. Dumas looked at Nish, who returned the gaze and blushed again.
"I'm sorry.", whispered to him. He didn't know what else to say, yet he knew that it wasn't enough with that, but the sudden hug that Nish gave him surprised him.
"I was so worried.", said the albino, hugging Dumas tighter, burying his head in his hair before moving to his neck. "You fucking idiot... You fucking idiot!", said as he started to shed some warm tears.
Dumas returned the gesture and hid on Nish's chest. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to say. Maybe it was those times in where you don't say or do anything. He was feeling warm and good despite all. He was happy that someone was looking over him, concerned about his life, yet he was still scared. Maybe he would have some time after the war's over. He will have some time to think over it, to talk about it. Dumas really wanted to let Nish stay at his side because he was starting to feel something for him, not that strong, but it was there.
"...I just did what I had to do.", mumbled the horned man a little after they fell in silence.
"I know.", said Nish, inhaling Dumas' scent. "I know."
After Tove and Perrault helped the injured ones, Ernest reunited with every vampire in the Hideout to know more about werewolves and why vampires were so afraid of them. One of them, whom seemed to be the oldest in the building, explained the little issue. They weren't exactly afraid of them. Vampires knew that werewolves, with their beast nature, were stronger than them and that's why they usually run away before the presence of one. They could fight them back, but that required that vampires returned to their natural form, as werewolves do it when Full Moon appears in the night sky. The problem is that only the oldest vampires are able to do it but most of them hate humans and they weren't going to help them. Ernest understood and asked how they could kill them.
"With silver.", explained the vampire.
"Silver? Why silver?", asked the man.
"Silver is the material representation of the Moon's light.", the vampire sighed. "They, as we do, fear the Moon's power because it's the one that protects us. It's very concentrated...", he coughed. "the dew inside the silver. It burns our skin and neglects the beast transformation of werewolves."
"Dew? Like water drops?", said Ernest and the man nodded. He couldn't help it and laughed. "It's... metal. It doesn't have water."
"Some objects and living forms from this planet have a small percentage of water. Some other, a lot.", he took out from his pocket a silver necklace that put on his left hand. "Even stones has water.", he squished it hard and, over his right hand, several crystalline and transparent drops of, what seemed to be water, slipped and fell on his skin, which started to turn black. He opened the hand it had the necklace, now completely black. "Sometimes you humans need to see to believe.", he put the small amount of dew into Ernest's hands. "Sometimes not even seeing it's enough for you to believe."
The man looked at the water. It was like normal water but it had... another feel. While water was, well, humid and wet, this dew was dry, which was strange.
"But...", Ernest looked at the vampire. "If it's dew then... it should be water, right?"
"It is water, just with the power of the Moon. With this dew hidden inside the silver you will be able to control the transformation of the werewolves."
"We don't have much time to create the silver bullets and I don't know how many of the vampire and humans here knows how to grab a gun.", said Ernest looking at the rest.
"There is no need to use bullets only. A small dagger, a knife, even a sword pushed deep inside their flesh is enough to stop them. But the weapons should be short, over a place hard for them to take it out.", he coughed again. "While the ones capable of wielding weapons sticks this silver into the werewolves, the others will attack shortly after and manage to kill them while they're in their human form."
"Don't they get lightly stronger under Full Moon, though?", asked Ernest.
"As strong as a vampire can be.", replied the man, smiling.
Ernest left the Hideout along with Kay to see Sheridan once more to ask him about the silver bullets. Bea and Dumas started to collect any type of weapons from the vampires currently fighting, cataloging each one as knife and daggers. There were no long swords there and that supposed a bit of worry to the former Duke. A long sword gives you the advantage of distance from the enemy when fighting it but with daggers and knives one has to come very close to the foe; it was a dangerous move and the vampires not fast enough to dodge the werewolves' attack will end up dead. But at the same time, it was also a bad move since the werewolf will be able to take it out rather quick, unless the edge is pushed so hard that it trespass the body of the foe. With the inhuman strength that vampires have it should be a piece of cake, yet the muscular mass of the werewolves was higher than the vampires and there was small chances of not being able to get the sword go through it.
When only waiting for the leaders to return was the only option, Dumas returned with Nish over their place to rest. The albino was already lying on the floor with Perrault and Nero over his lap. The Dark Terrennial had been worrying about the couple after they were captured, more concerned about Lucian than he was for Aaron actually. Several times before he had stayed awake all day unable to sleep or rest at all, trying to sense if Lucian was still alive, but he couldn't trace his energy. Nero thought if Oyan had killed the vampire but, if it that was the case, then he should have of vanish too, seeing how he and Lucian were connected. The vampire was still valuable and the north gunslinger will not kill him until he has no further use to him.
In the past few days, Toasty and he worried about the two more than Ernest and Dumas would. Those two Terrennials were too attached emotionally to those boys and the sudden lose of them left them in a very depressing mood. They had been fighting all these days, Toasty often blaming it on Lucian and Nero blaming it on Aaron and so on. They even had fought physically several times and Ernest decided to take care of Toasty while Perrault said she would take Nero with her, Dumas and Nish. The other Terrennials felt pity for them as they never grew too attached to the vampires that enslaved them, though Ursula seemed to feel otherwise. While the rest of her comrades were held captive inside the Casket Armor, the fire Terrennial had more freedom while living with Rymer and discovered and learned a few things about vampires and about Dumas' plan with him. He had confessed that he didn't like the way Immortals, especially Polidori, were doing things, even less that he and Dumas were working together. He felt the green skinned Immortal was going to be a real pain sometime soon.
"But didn't he held you against your will?", asked Ezra once, a few months later when they had returned from the outer space war and the boys were done with the Vambery. "Even though I bitched up against Stoker, he still hurt me pretty much..."
Ursula smiled.
"That vampire truly was different.", answered. "He indeed held me against my will but he actually had a reason for it, and I kinda helped him in it."
"How?", Tove said approaching her. "They enslaved us to corrupt and use our powers to destroy Humans! To break the cycle! How can you say that you were helping vampires in this?"
"Don't misunderstand her words, Tove.", said Alexander. "She didn't say she helped vampires, she was only helping Margrave Rymer in his personal fight.", the owl looked at Ursula. "And I bet it had a lot to do with the Duke."
"What?", said at the same time Ezra and Tove, looking at Alexander.
"Rymer told me 'Please, let me borrow your powers to protect him.'", answered Ursula. "How could I refuse?"
Everyone then understood what she was talking about now that the Duke was once more with them. Toasty was kinda of suspicious that the Margrave wanted only to protect him using Ursula's power, seeing that Stoker and the Poes were much like Dumas. But then again, Rymer wasn't with Ratatosk. He joined Dumas shortly after and was soon hired by him and given Ursula as his Terrennial to control. Despite what Ursula had thought in the beginning, she got a real surprise when she actually met the real person behind the vampire and was very glad she got someone like him, worrying about the other three that were under the hands of very selfish and arrogant people like the Poes and Stoker were.
Nish interrupted Nero's thoughts with a soft pat on his head. The black cat turned around and looked at him, finding Ursula standing right next to the vampire too.
"You doing no good to yourself.", said the fire Terrennial. Her human form was one of the most exotic from all the Terrennials. Her skin was red with the white and black markings she usually had in his original form. Her terrible long hair was orange, much like Rymer's one, and over her forehead was the usual antennas-crow from where flames grows. Her outfit was rather simple; a brown shirt missing a shoulder matching with light brown pants. These pants had also little red orbs hanging from them, and also thin golden bracelets; one around her waist and two on her ankles. She was the only barefoot from all the Terrennials. "You should rest and leave this to us."
"I can't.", replied the cat. "Your partner is dead and I still have to look over mine's, who is now inside a jail with the enemy. I can't imagine what Oyan had made Aaron do to Lucian to satisfy his curiosity."
Perrault hugged Nero, who groaned but didn't struggle.
"You have to trust them.", said Ursula.
"I do...", he dropped his ears.
"Then?", Nish asked.
"Do you honestly think, all of you, that we will able to defeat Oyan with the little people we have here? He got a machine, he managed to get Lucian with his powers, he got werewolves. What else he has hiding under his sleeves? What other weapon he will take out to bring us down?", Nero snuggled closer to Perrault, folding his wings over his body. "We had lost a lot of people recently; two of them are now under Oyan's hand. We don't really stand a chance."
Ursula sighed. Nero had a point there. They only managed to reunite a few people while Oyan grouped ten times the number they did. He also had the spy, his machine, Lucian's powers and now the werewolves. Looking at it, they really don't have a chance, but they could also go and recruit more people if needed. But that's hard and not a lot of humans or other creature likes vampires at all. Either way, they needed to find a way or the battle was going to end up being useless.
"Why I haven't...", came suddenly Dumas' voice.
"What?", said Ursula.
"We can also use some machines, too."
"What are you talking about?", asked Nish, looking at the expression of deep thinking Dumas had.
"The Vambery."
But only Ursula understood.
"The Casket Armors! Yes!", she shouted. "Stoker's one will be like a bull on rampage!"
"I can't believe I haven't thought of that before, I'm an idiot...", mumbled Dumas rubbing his temples.
"If you say so...", said Nish with a naughty smile, resulting in the horned man to hit him on his arm.
When Ernest and Kay returned from Sheridan's mansion, Dumas talked with them about his idea of looking the Casket Armors that Polidori once gave the vampires under his control. The idea was a very good one and they desperately needed something to counterattack Oyan's huge army now. The laboratory was something that the auburn man hadn't thought of conquering again when he came to the East lands, so it was safe for them to go and look for them. Even though Alexander wasn't there, Tove said he would pilot Edgar's machine if this plan worked. The bad thing was that the vampires had to take all the Terrennials to the Vambery and that would leave them lightly undefended towards Oyan but Ernest decided to work on it.
It was still nighttime. Kay suggested resting a few hours before going at sunrise. Dumas and Nish agreed and so did the Terrennials. Just before they could keep going they heard some noises over the main room of the Hideout and the two gunslingers grabbed their weapons and run towards it, followed by the vampires and the spirits. Bea was there too, shouting some words to what apparently seemed to be an intruder. The vampires and other humans sheltering under it were pretty much scared and tried to stay as far as possible from the intruder as the gunslinger formed a circle around it.
Perrault and Nero were the ones that managed to see how the intruder looked alike and, to their surprise, was another vampire thought very different to the ones that they all knew. He was all dressed in black and had a smooth white hair just like Nish. The big cloak covered all his body and you could only see his shoes from under it. He didn't seem to be a big deal until they all saw how powerful his shadow control was.
"What are your business here?", said Ernest with his Dragoon pointing to Dark Shadow.
"I'm looking for a man called Ernest that I presume it's you by the weapon you are wielding.", said the vampire.
"And who sent you?"
"My beloved master."
Ernest looked back to Dumas and Nish. Both vampires didn't know that kid at all. He truly was powerful but the lack of Casket Armor and the types of clothes he was wearing told them he was far older than anyone inside the room.
"You have something to tell me.", said Ernest.
"Indeed I have.", he bowed as a sign of respect and, kind of surprised, the tanned man answered to it. "It's about this battle and how my master and I want to participate."
"Well, the more the better. Why isn't he here with you?"
"He didn't want Lucian or Aaron to see him."
"They aren't here. They have been captured by Oyan."
Dark Shadow's eyes opened widely.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Oyan captured him when Vanargandr took over his body.", explained Dumas. "Aaron tried to stop him but he got captured too."
Dark Shadow bit his bottom lip. It had been all Dyango's fault. If the man hadn't decided to fight with him, then they would have been able to do what they wanted but now that Lucian was with Oyan, it would be harder this way.
"Well that... was unexpected, honestly."
"What the hell do you want?", asked in a rough tone the former Duke.
"We want to join if it's alright with everyone in this room, as I already stated. We couldn't do it faster due to personal problems of my master yet now we can."
"I can't accept until I see your master.", said Ernest. "I need to see him."
"Well then, what about meeting in two nights? Be sure to go into Oyan's fight that night or you will not be able to meet him at all.", whispered Dark Shadow before disappearing under Ernest's one.
The rest looked at Ernest if he had the answer to what just happened, which was one of the weirdest thing that was going to happen in the next few days, yet he didn't. He decided to drop the subject and call it a day as he dropped his Dragoon over his bed and flopped on it to rest.
Around eight in the morning he stood up, ate something and proceeds to wake up Dumas, Nish and the Terrennials that were all of them in their original form, piled upon each other to keep themselves warm, thought Ursula was the one that warmed them. The vampires admired the scene with Ernest for a few minutes.
"Do we really have to wake them up?", said Dumas. Nish nodded. "They all look so cute..."
Half an hour later, they were all out. Nish transformed into his full form and, letting each men take one of his arm, he took off and flew towards the Vambery, with the Terrennials floating just behind him. They arrived rather quickly and, since the soup was in the latest floors, Nish decided to land over the roof and from there, everyone walked down the stairs. Perrault and Nero were the ones guiding the group as both of them knew where to go. Toasty was just behind the cat and then, the rest.
Ezra seemed to have second thoughts of this idea. Her body was still and she jumped at every weird noise, something very odd on her since she was one of the toughest from all the Terrennials. But it was understandable. After all, she shared her time with one of the most crazed vampires Dumas could ever meet. Tove, feeling pity for his friend, stood besides her but not so long. Just as he decided it, Toasty came and placed himself in the other side of Ezra, eyeing Tove carefully. The Earth Terrennial knew the sunflower wasn't going to do anything... strange, but his mood and opinions changed so fast that he didn't know what he was capable of. Ezra seemed to not notice it as she kept following the two cats before her.
Tove really wanted to be with Alexander right now, since he really gets along with him and he was very patient with his, sometimes, childish behavior and answered all his questions and all his doubts. He knew that Ezra never really tried to get or find a mate or someone that close to be with, much like Dumas right now, but after the last war she slowly started to change and loose up. She rarely hanged up with them before but Ursula really did her part in dragging her to them. Tove became close friend with her in a very short time, it was his nature after all, and enjoyed her presence and disliked and grew jealous if she decided to spend some time alone. He hated seeing people alone but had to respect the other's space.
Toasty, after Tove became close friend with Ezra, started to, also, become friends with her after being separated for so long. At first, it was hard because she didn't exactly talked with him or anyone, but then she started to tell her things about her life with Stoker and the things he made her see in the Vambery, the cruel experiments being held in the laboratory, the suffering he brought to the humans and creatures, to Sheridan that hated all that, to Carmilla, to Laura. Ezra had suffered a lot those years and had fought against the icy vampire but always ended up so beaten up that only her condition as Terrennial saved her from a certain death. Something that confused Toasty to no end. Wasn't actually Tove the one that was more close to her? Shouldn't be him the one hearing those things? But he didn't ask, he simple listened and gave her a shoulder where to cry on whenever she needed it, a hug, some reassuring words or even a smile. Even when Tove was very close to her, Ezra told Toasty that his naïve and innocent nature prevented him to fully understand other's feelings. Tove wanted everyone to feel better without really understanding the situation behind it.
It was a matter of time for those two to become closer than mere friends, as Alexander often told Tove. The Earth Terrennial didn't understand at first, sometimes spying on them to try to get the meaning of those words by simpler they were. He knew that something was going on when Ezra started to behave in a way too nicely with Toasty, and how the sunflower answered the gestures in the same way. It was Nero who told him that it was very feasible that Ezra and Toasty were in love, but being so stubborn both of them, they didn't have the guts to admit it. Now, in the times that were hitting them, it was natural for Toasty to feel extremely overprotective of Ezra seeing how he deeply cared for her. Aaron was also in his priority list, but a more powerful force shoved him aside and placed the fox Terrennial on it.
Toasty and Tove found themselves thinking about Ezra's feelings. Even thought she was one of the strongest and one of the toughest, her heart was a very fragile thing, much like a thin layer of ice over the smooth surface of a lake. Tove feared she would end up alone (which he doubt it but no one really knew if they were going to live tomorrow after fighting), and Toasty was concerned about her emotional side. She always kept those bad feelings inside and pretends it was all cool. The sunflower frowned and sighed softly. He knew, she knew it wasn't really healthy but he couldn't oblige her to think or act otherwise. It was up to her if she wanted to change that to a more productive way.
"...I had forgotten how this looked...", came Nero's voice. His hair was spiked as he stopped just in front of a collapsed wall. The soup, as Polidori often called it, was intact and had the same feeling and horrible scent from four years ago. The cat looked at it and flew backwards, not really wanting to come closer. Ezra mimicked his movement.
"You don't have to do it if you don't feel like to.", told Dumas to the fox.
Ezra heard the words and they ringed in her head. She remembered the times that Stoker used to mock Sheridan with words similar to those, how he tortured the creatures he brought to the Vambery, his laugh as he heard the screams filling the room. How many times she had desired to end it all? How many times she tried to stop Stoker? How many times she had hoped for him to die or for her to, so the victims could escape? She never thought she would have to ask the help from that man, but she understood that it was needed. After all, this planet was her home too and she was going to do anything to protect it, even if that means to kill and ask for your enemy's aid.
She hated him, she despite him.
Ezra turn into her humanoid form and walked over the wet surface of the soup. Her hands, glowing in a bright blue light, turned into ice.
She disliked him, she hated everything he did in the past, everything he did to her while being in that cage called Casket Armor.
Ezra gave two consecutive punches on the blood like liquid, making it splash all around her. The ice was slowly freezing the surface.
Yet, she didn't have a perfect time to hit Stoker right into his face, to rips his arms off like he did with that kid, or his legs, or open him up and take off his intestine, or his lungs, or his stomach, or any organ she felt like to take out.
"God, FUCK.", she roared as her spell was finally working. The soup around her was moving rather quick and was agitated. The ice was finally rising with the red liquid forming a familiar shape. "I fucking still hate you and I ever will but... there other things more important that hating you for the rest of my eternal life."
The Casket Armor rose from the soup and the ice around it shattered in pieces. The only glowing pincer was the purple one, seeing that the tube where Ernest once was held was broken and how the other needed his power to work, now dyed in a grey color with red stripes only. Both pincers fell on the floor, not moving. The Casket Armor's pilot place was empty, no signs of Stoker. Dumas was the only one, along with Perrault, that dared to come closer to it. He inspected it for a few minutes and then, turning around, he told them to come.
No one knew about alchemy but they suspected it was still working and could be piloted, but Dumas didn't know if others, besides the vampires and the Terrennials, could do it, since the Casket Armors were given strictly by Polidori to them and the former Duke didn't know if the Immortal did something to them, so only Stoker could pilot his own machine. Ernest decided to try it first but, as Dumas suspected, it didn't work at all. When Ezra tried it, it seemed that the machine wanted to move, but soon it was out of energy. The ice Terrennial sighed loudly, rubbing her temples. She knew... She just knew she had to bring him back. The good thing was that, after all ended, Ezra could easily make Stoker disappear if she wanted, but didn't really want to do it right now. So, instead, Tove was the first one that summoned not only the Casket Armor, but the vampire that enclosed him as well.
The big green machine slowly rose from the red liquid and stood over it, while Tove used his magic to bring back Virginia's body. The little vampire girl had his usual sailor themed clothes, all green. Her purple hair was lightly wet because of the soup and her eyes were empty. When the Terrennials were released from the Casket Armors, and the bodies of the vampires were purified, their souls went inside the spirits for them to guard. Tove smiled at seeing her. Even though he had been against the vampire's ideas of an utopia for them, he couldn't blame them for protecting their world from the Immortals. He was also part of it and would do anything to protect it. The Earth Terrennial blew softly over her face and a green wind came from his mouth that enveloped Virginia's body, going inside her by her mouth and nose before fading.
Her eyes recovered their life as she lifted her head slowly, finding Tove's eyes on her own. The vampire girl looked at him, and blinked. She knew him...
"...Tove?", she whispered softly. The Earth Terrennial nodded. "But... wait, the young gunslinger and the dark swordsmaster..."
He put his hands on her shoulders.
"It's a... very long story, but we need yours and the other's help."
"What for? Why don't you tell me?"
Tove turned around and looked at Dumas. Virginia followed his gaze and gasped at the man's sight. She clutched Tove's waist tight, like trying to hide.
"Why is he here?", she asked to the Terrennial. "I thought he also died."
"I did.", replied Dumas, with a sad look on his face. He knew all the things he did when the little girl was under his control, how Edgard protected her and how he ended up receiving the worst of punishment only for showing Dumas he was doing things the wrong way. "I died, but Perrault revived me after Aaron and Lucian defeated Polidori's image at the Vambery, using this very soup that revived you as well."
"And why are you with the gunslinger now? What's happening?", demanded Virginia.
Ezra was the one that told her what's going on and, with a surprise expression the little girl understood that they were only going to serve, once more, as mere tools. It was like that time, years ago, that she and her brother decided to help Dumas in getting rid of Ratatosk. Both of them thought they were going to be free from his stings, only to be tied again to Dumas' ones. She was not going to help anyone if that means to be used again. She rather stays dead than serving like a puppet to its master.
Virginia refused to help. She wasn't going to suffer what she did when serving to Ratatosk and Dumas, even when Tove begged, the little girl hold still on his decision.
"I didn't want to use you at all.", said Dumas. "I only wanted to use the Casket Armors, but I didn't know that only you and you brother can control them."
"What do you expected?", came the girl's sharp response.
"What would I expect if, after all, they were created to be a jail of the Terrennials?", the horned man replied and Virginia closed her mouth. "I supposed that using the Terrennials was enough to turn them on... but guess it isn't."
Virginia looked at the rest of the Terrennials, to Nish and Ernest.
"Maybe with one condition.", she whispered, and Ernest nodded, silently saying that she should continue. "That me and my brother will not be killed after the war."
"But we will destroy yours and your brother's Casket Armors.", said the human and the little girl nodded.
"Fair for me."
Tove also summoned Edgard's machine and his body but, being Alexander the one that held his soul, couldn't do much but boss him around to do what he wanted. Ezra was the next one that summoned her vampire and gave him a new life. Stoker agreed to help without asking anything back. The man, by seeing the ice Terrennial's eyes, that he was only going to help a bit before fading to darkness again. This time, Ezra had power over him and Stoker knew it was better to follow her orders than trying to dominate her.
Ursula had some troubles trying to summon Rymer's body. The fire Terrennial was out of energy the first minute and no one knew why. She said it would take a while so Ernest told the rest to return to the Hideout to prepare for the next fight. That albino vampire said Oyan was going to attack two nights from now, but what it bugged Ernest the most was how that vampire knew about it. He didn't seem dangerous, but couldn't trust anyone so lightly either.
They used Stoker's casket armor to return pretty quickly to the Hideout, leaving Ursula alone in the Vambery to concentrate and do her task. Bea and the rest were very surprised at seeing the new reborn vampires. Ernest reunited everyone in the main room and explained Dumas' idea and how they should move now having three powerful machines at their side. Stoker, surprisingly, suggested some nice ideas about surprising the enemy with the casket armors. Right when he thinks he had dominated them, they would bring them out and attack. Ernest told him about the werewolves, but the mad scientist laughed.
Nero and Perrault concentrated, at last Nero tried, in helping Dumas to gather his Trance ability back. Each time the horned man fused with his Terrennial, his body was drained from all energy and he ended up too tired to move or, sometimes, fainted from it. Lately, he had been able to maintain this ability for a minute or so, but it wasn't enough if he needed to fight, especially against werewolves. Nero was really amused by this, and thought if it couldn't be because Polidori kidnapped his body to Byron and modified it with the soup. Dumas didn't think so, but couldn't think of any other explanation, but if there is one that could explain it should be Alexander, but he wasn't there with them.
"What about Stoker?", suggested the black cat. "Didn't he do genetic experiments while living in the Vambery?"
"He did, but honestly I would hate being his guinea pig.", replied the man.
"Do you see another way of doing this?"
Dumas felt silent. Then, he sighed.
"Alright, alright..."
After finding Stoker in the nursery room helping Tove and explaining to him the problem, he said he knew what to do, but needed a helper and they needed to return to the Vambery to actually do the experiment. Dumas didn't want to go, knowing that Ursula was still there trying to bring back Rymer, and the last thing the horned man needed was to see his dead love being reborn. It would crush the relationship that he and Nish built in this time and he didn't want it to end just like that. But he didn't have a choice. He had to gather his ability back as soon as possible.