I had been thinking over and over and over this last chapter. Everything I did didn't come out the way I liked. Once it started to come out as I wanted, I was blocked. Collage started and couldn't find the time or the will to continue it. Another idea crossed my mind one time I was re-reading the whole stuff (idea I'm currently working on and already have around 7-8 chapters of it), and thought it would be nice to break from this story for a while until I was clear enough to think again on it. That time came and, with it, the final chapter of this story it took me two years to finally finish. Yes, I'm proud of it you could say. I learned a lot about story-telling, about grammar (lol) and other stuff. You clearly can see how I changed my way of writing over the time in this particular story and I'm glad I managed to catch a bit about it. I'm well aware there aren't going to be a lot of people getting in their e-mail account the alert that this story has a new and last chapter, but I'm relieved with the thought of finally finish it, so that's everything I need right now. Though, I would love to read what you have to say about this last chapter.
I deeply thank you from the bottom of my heart the fact you came up to THIS point. So, now I will stop writing this sappy author's note and will let you enjoy the reading.
38
The return to the Tower Laboratory Vambery felt odd, the sight of the crumbled buildings in Acuna and the bright morning Sun was odd too. It wasn't too long ago that they were surrounded by a pitch black darkness and they were trapped inside the city and now, everything came back to something close to normality, and it wasn't until they were out of it that they realized the countless of humans and vampires alike that managed to escape before Vanargandr went crazy. Most of them run away towards Thirdteen Street and the others went straight to the frontier. The ones that helped Oyan in taking over Acuna were slayed by Lucian when he was under the control of Vanargandr, and were the only humans that stayed behind in the city. The group of humans, that among them Lucian and Ezra reconized the vampire family they helped a while ago, was kind enough to help the tired and exhausted group to reach their destination. They were concerned about the Viscount's health status since their body seemed to desintegrate quickly. Stoker was clueless about it but said he would find what's wrong with them once they reached the Vambery.
Ernest, even though he was badly beaten up, was the one that lead the group. He started to talk to the man that seemed to lead the survivors group and told him that the people that assisted to the reunion in the Dark Castle were the ones that later warned them to leave early, even before the battle had begun. That's why when Oyan first arrived didn't find anyone except the ones joining him. Though Ernest would loved more help from what they got, it was a relief that there were many survivors among Acuna, and most of them were familiars or friends from the ones in the Vambery.
"Why didn't you people go to the Vambery, then, if you knew your friends would be there?"
"We would have been an easy target for the vampire hunters of the north and possibly Vanargandr, too, if we stayed all together. Being split appart guaranteed us our surviving, even though we were deep worried about the others."
Ernest took a deep sigh as he lifted his head to the sky. It was clear, not even a single cloud was in his sight, at last what he could still see from his unharmed eye and he remembered, back eleven years ago, how Kay and him returned without Trinity and Sartana, how they had to return to their hideout all beaten up and defeated. The feeling of humillation that Ernest felt when internally realized he had lost was strong, and the feeling of lose and sadness was even greater. It took him a while to get used to be the new leader but it took him more time to be able to get close to Aaron back then, as each time he saw the infant he saw the face of who had been like a father to him, and that made Ernest not want to stay in the Guild, to not want to keep it up anymore.
He was deeply surprised to see that Gunda came with Hoshii and a numerous group of his best soldiers. The last time he saw the canine-man was when he and Trinity discussed a few things about joining forces, but Gunda declined and left after the reunion was over. It was there that he knew that Gunda was actually Kay's father, the very one that kicked him out from home when he was a mere teenager. Despite the fact that Ernest knew Kay for a while now, the canine-man never spoke about it. He was wondering why would Gunda came this time and not when they would have needed him to beat Dumas and prevent evertything that came afterwards, but Ernest was more concerned about how Gunda's returning will impact in Kay's life, although the tanned man had a feeling that Kay wouldn't care at all.
Ernest turned around softly and gazed at the others and was amazed to see that Lucian was being helped by his brother and Dainn, while Aaron was actually quiet far away from the purple haired man. The boy was quiet, something odd in him, and wasn't really looking at anything in particular, just walking with the rest of the group. Next to him was Toasty, that had a visible tired look on his face, and was speechless too. Nish was next to Dumas, glaring at Rymer that was a few steps away from them carrying over his shoulder a tired Virginia and a sleeping Edgar in his arms. Stoker was next to the man talking in whispers with Nidhoggr. Bea was being carried over by Lobreta and seemed that the woman was about to faint from exhaustation at anytime. The Terrennials were all resting over shoulders, heads or arms of anyone. They were too tired after all the energy they gave in to seal Vanargandr, although the only one that seemed to keep it on his own was Alexander. He had too much pride to let others take care of him.
"Kay...", whispered Ernest and the canine-man approached his friend. "How do you feel?"
Kay arched his eyebrows.
"How do I feel?", the furred man rubbed his chin with his healthy hand for an instant. "I'm feeling a lot in this moment, but most of all, relief. Why?", Ernest shrugged.
"This is the first war that I had won, how I am supposed to feel? Because right now, I really don't feel anything."
Kay smirked and patted Ernest on his head.
"You will realize it with time. Right now, you have a swolled eye, a missing ear and whatnot. Maybe when all that physical pain goes away, you will be able to see it clearly."
"With just one eye remaining?", said Ernest with a smile.
"Well, Lucian had an eye-patch the entire time..."
Ernest started to laugh, and it felt good. His body enjoyed the feeling of relief, and felt also good to not be so tense, to just relax. The hard work from him and the others really paid off, and he was very glad about it. Yes, that's what he felt right now, he was glad. A new smile drew on his lips as he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and smirked.
"This... is for you, Trinity.", whispered as he looked up to the sky.
The encounter in the Vambery from both sides made the entire group burst into tears and joyful screams, feeling excited and happy that they finally could see their loved ones alive, although not everyone managed to come alive, and a lot of people cried their lose, being comforted with soft pats on their shoulders or backs. Ernest thanked everyone from the bottom of his soul, unable to keep his tears from falling as each word left his mouth, and the whole group thanked him in return for staying up for them and fighting for the home they managed to retrieve.
The reunion was rather short for Ernest and the others as they urgently needed medical attention. Stoker and Tove were the ones that quickly took Bea to a surgery room taken out of the blue so they could repair veins, flesh, tendons and everything else so her life wasn't endangered. The rest had to wait until both of them were finished. Rymer took the Viscounts to a separate room and laid them on a bed. Hër and Hoshii appeared and helped the young vampires in bandaging up their bleeding wounds, while the rest of Gunda's soldiers helped in healing the other's wounds. Lobreta kindly cleaned Ernest's wounds, as the man seemed to collapse exhausted, so he could lie down and take the rightful rest he needed.
"How did you find out about what was happening here?", asked Kay to Gunda, who had his arm put back in place and was all wrapped up until they could mix up the ingredients to make his plaster. The young canid sat besides Gunda and the taller canid eyed him softly with his single eye and twitching his only ear.
"Alice told us. She and Hoshii are somewhat relatives and they talk pretty much everyday. Alice had told Hoshii about the north gunslingers and Lucian's pleas of help, and decided to come."
"…I never thought I would see you again.", whispered Kay after a long silence between them. Gunda remained silent, though. "You're never going to forgive me, are you?", asked, frowning. To his surprise, Gunda smiled softly.
"I did, but I'm hurt still, and that doesn't go away easily, even after so many years.", he sighed, entwining his fingers. "Your mother nearly killed me for what I did, but you deserved a punishment for disowning your own family like that, although I never thought you would go that far."
"That far? What do you mean?"
"Well, I thought you would come later, after a few days, like you sometimes did when both argued, apologize for what you did but you never came. I grew so angry to see you run away like that… I really wanted to punch your face when you dared to come years later like nothing happened."
Kay smirked then, he sighed.
"I'm really sorry.", whispered, lowering his gaze. "I truly am."
"I know you are.", whispered back Gunda. "And I know that Trinity made you a better man, and that raised you better that I could have done back in our village. I'm happy to see that you have become a rightful man."
Kay smiled, not knowing what to say after that. Gunda returned him the smile and, a bit clumsy, patted his son on his back.
Hoshii was attending Lucian's wound, much to his despite since the girl couldn't just shut up. She was as annoying as Alice, although without those weird looking rabbit ears over her head. Aaron was sitting next to them, Dainn was also there while Dyango watched them from far away, laughing at each of his brother's demise. Aaron seemed a bit distant and wasn't really paying attention and didn't notice when Dainn talked to him. The vampire sighed and pinched the boy's arm.
"Ow! Why did you do that for?"
"Are you alright?", Dainn asked.
"Yeah..."
They fell in silence for a few seconds before Aaron sighed.
"Not really.", said afterwards. Dainn looked at him apatetically and smiled softly, urging the boy to continue. Aaron crawled closer to the vampire. "It's just... Now that the Beast is finally sealed, what will happen to me?"
"You mean because of the Dark Matter?", Aaron nodded. "Well, since Lucian is in his mind again, it shouldn't be a problem now. If you look closely, you will see your veins returned to normal after the Beast was sealed.", then Dainn softly parted Aaron's lips with his fingers, and hummed. "Interesting…"
"What?", asked the boy when the vampire petted his longer canines, although he couldn't notice it.
"Nothing.", said as he stood up and went to Dyango's side before disappearing in his shadow.
Aaron stood clueless in his seat, but shrugged off the feeling when Hoshii told him she finished healing up most of Lucian's wounds. The rest would heal with the regenerating power vampires have. She smiled at him before storming off to help others, and Aaron looked at Lucian for a brief moment before turning his head elsewhere. Lucian didn't call him at all, he knew something was troubling the boy so he decided to lay down and get some rest after the agitated days they had.
As soon as the boy noticed Lucian was asleep, he rose from his seat and left the room. It was nearly midday, and he went straight to one of the balconies to get some fresh air. No one seemed to come and disturb him, nor did anyone actually see him climbing up the stairs. Aaron leaned over the rail and sighed.
He wasn't thinking about the outcome of the battle, at all. He was happy and so glad it was over and they actually won, but his mind wasn't concentrated in that. He was more concerned about what happened inside Lucian's mind, and what that vampiric lady told him and what Perrault argued with them. He was concerned on the fact that part of his soul was linked with Lucian's one, and a tiny part of his was inside his body too. He wasn't going to break up anytime soon, but he couldn't help but think what would happen if they ever break up. He felt that this linking was going to chain him to Lucian the rest of his life, wherever he liked it or not, wherever he still love him or not, and it wasn't fair. Aaron felt now much like Dumas, who was trying to get rid of his past but the chains were too thick and heavy for him to lift and throw away. Besides, being responsible of his vampire's mind was a hard task too, not to mention that the thought of Vanargandr possibly awaking again by some sort of twist in fate scared the fuck out of him. He felt the intense energy and the manipulating and oppressive powers of the Beast when he tried to bring back Lucian's mind from Vanargandr's control, and he was damn sure he didn't want to do it over again.
On the other side, he saw himself as just a teenager boy with constants hormone changes and mood swings the entire time. He was wondering if indeed was everything misunderstood between him and Lucian, and after what happened in the little cottage over the mountains was just pure hormones raging in their bodies and that Lucian was just merely acting up or just being a "gentlemen" after it, just to not let the boy down or something. Aaron would hate it if that was the real reason why Lucian was still with him or why he stayed with him the entire time. He leaned over the rail and groaned.
"This is so difficult…", whispered and jumped startled when he heard a chuckle behind him. "…Rymer?"
The tall vampire smirked and walked next to the boy, leaning over the rail and admiring the landscape before him.
"The Dark Castle had a better view since it was taller than the Vambery. You could even see the large dessert after the frontier in Acuna.", said as he sighed, possibly remembering the times he spent there. Shaking them off, he looked at the boy. "Dumas was a bit curious as to why you left Lucian's side."
"Dumas?", repeated the boy as he arched an eyebrow. Rymer chuckled. "Why didn't he came, then?"
"I don't think Lucian would approve it."
Aaron laughed and returned to his position over the rail. They stood in silence for a few uncomfortable seconds before Rymer spoke up.
"Did something happen while you were captive inside Vanargandr's body?", Aaron raised his head and eyed the auburn vampire, before shrugging his shoulders. "Something you don't want to talk about?"
"It's not that I'm going to tell you either. I mean, why would I?"
"Point taken, but you aren't going to talk about it anytime soon, not even with Lucian, who's the one troubling you, I can see it, or with Terrennial Toasty."
Aaron frowned and sighed.
"I don't know if I really want to…", he stopped and sighed, biting his bottom lip. "I don't think I will like to see how my family grows old as I stay young if I decide or oblige Lucian to turn me into a vampire if I want to stay with him."
Rymer arched his eyebrows, surprised.
"You don't have to be a vampire to be with Lucian."
"Yes I have. Otherwise, I would grow old and he would stay as a young man for eternity. What if I'm like… in my forties or something and they mistook us as father and son? What the fuck?", Rymer laughed hard at that.
"Well, from that point of view you might be right but, don't you love him? Why would it matter if you grow old or not? If he was human you wouldn't really care about that. Are you worried he might not find you attractive as you turn into an aged man?"
"I don't think he will, at all."
"So you think the only solution would be turning you into a vampire, right?", Aaron nodded. "Do you realize you will lose your memories? Lucian was already a dhampir to begin with, so the Dark Matter didn't do the same thing it does with normal humans."
The boy bit his bottom lip. Rymer was right, he hadn't thought really about that, which was his main reason for not wanting to become a vampire in the first place, despite how much he loved Lucian. Being unable to remember anything about your life as a human and lose all those feeling he has in his heart wasn't really a choice he would want to do. He had forgotten about that important change with all the heat of the battle and Lucian's transformation but if there was nothing else he could do, what was left? There wasn't a magical potion that would turn him into an immortal being, nor there was an elixir that did the same thing, and he suddenly felt angry again. He tightened his hands over the rail as he glared at the ruined Dark Castle. If there wasn't a way, a safer way, for him to turn into an immortal being then, why would Lucian fell for him in the first place? He would have been more carefull and try to reject the boy if he knew there wasn't any possibilities of that happening. Why would the man keep going if it would only bring pain and disdain to his younger mate?
Why would Lucian do all this if he didn't think there was a way? Why would he act on his own impulses and emotions if he wasn't like that? Aaron was now confused about it, he didn't know what was happening in Lucian's head for him to act the way he did. First, he went with Dumas and asked for help with the transformation, then, he embraced it as if it was the most natural thing he could do, he tried to fight against his inner demon but gave up to it and later gathered its powers, too. Did he actually... used him? Played with his feelings because he knew he would have the others on his side, being him the boy's mate? To achieve his goals easier than if he did it alone? Aaron felt disgusted, his stomach shrinking and feeling he would throw up anytime. Were those his real intentions? But he didn't only use him the most, he also used Dumas, Nish, the Guild's soldiers, Ernest, Bea, Kay, the Terrennials... his own brother. Were the revival of the fallen vampires another part of his elaborated plan?
Rymer watched him, concerned at the sudden change of expression on the boy.
"Are you alright?"
"...No.", whispered, shaking his head softly. "No, not at all...", he sighed deeply. "Why would he do this...? Why would he work so hard for something if I can't stay with him?"
The vampire arched his eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you see?", shouted the boy. "He fucking planed this all along! For thirty-fucking-years! He just waited for the right time to move all his pieces!", said as he turned and glared at Rymer. The vampire was a bit confused to what Aaron was talking about until he realized he was talking about Lucian, remembering how he was called back from the Vambery to help the rest of the Terrennials to seal Vanargandr away. For a human like the boy it would be hard to think about his love interest that way, but Rymer had suspected it for a while now.
He wouldn't have guessed the outcome of that plan, though, he was sure that most of it was Lucian's doing from time ago. He also thought it had been plotted between him, Dyango, Dainn and possibly Nidhoggr too, seeing as they were the only ones capable of, literally, do all the things they did; controling Lucian using the needle, which only Nidhoggr could do, liberating him afterwards, convincing Oyan to do things he wouldn't do in first place, Lucian being the actual head of the lead in the war, despite Ernest was the actual leader but the vampire took advantage of his thoughts about not being good enough to play his role well, and eventually gave his leadership to Lucian. Dyango came and tried to befriend Aaron in telling him how Lucian's transformation was coming out, calculating how much time they had left until the needle would broke eventually and Vanargandr would take possession of Lucian's body, dooming them all. Lucian needed Aaron's assistance to be able to be accepted, especially from Toasty, as the Light Terrennial was one of his worst enemies if he didn't acept him. He could burn him to ashes if he wanted. He tricked Dumas in helping him with the transformation in exchange of reviving Rymer for his favors, and dragged him all along the way to do what he wanted. Then, Lucian let the rest work itself out and he managed to graps in his hands the power of one of the most powerful Doomsday Beast over the planet, something Ratatosk could never achieve. No wonder it took him thirty years to calculate all that. A minor mistake and everything would fall.
"Maybe he had a reason.", said Rymer. He heard Aaron sigh angrily. The vampire looked at the boy and then to the Dark Castle. "Think about it. Why would he spend thirty years plotting all this? Didn't he fell in love again once he was out from Ratatosk's control? Why would he keep working in with the plan if he retrieved what he once lost?"
That got Aaron thinking. If Lucian did have a reason, which was it? That got him busy for the rest of the day, even after Rymer left him alone in the balcony to check how Dumas was doing. He couldn't come up with a proper or logical reason, though. The only viable one he thought of was revenge, revenge upon Dumas, upon Vanargandr, upon Ratatosk and possibly many more people who screwed up Lucian's life some way or the other. He talked and talked about that so much that eventually, Lucian convinced everyone that his sole reason for moving was revenge. Aaron now was riffling for more reasons after the little talk, deeper reasons for Lucian to wait for thirty years to finally make his moves. Maybe it was all because of that past love… Carmilla, was it? Maybe his sole reason was for her, and only her. Aaron's heart ached in pain when he thought about that, feeling more used than ever. That night he couldn't sleep at all, he didn't even care trying to. He was too sad about these reflexions that his brain didn't let him rest a single minute. He noticed how everyone was worried about how he was so quiet and inexpressive when, in times like this, he should feel glad. Toasty tried to talk with him but the boy refused to even listen to what the Terrennial had to say.
While Aaron was in an autistic mode, the rest inside the Vambery was still moving around. Most of the injured ones were attended already. Kay and his father received their plasters and now both of them had their arms put back in place after Stoker put the bones in the right places with some crews. Ernest collapsed and slept the entire day much like Bea. Her leg had been stitched up and Stoker told her to ask Sheridan for a good artificial limb. He explained they used to sit for hours planning new stuff and one of them was those. They managed to create a few prototypes and it's possible that the alchemist still had the sketches of them and made be able to build one for Bea. The vampires didn't require a lot of healing since, by now, most of their wounds stopped bleeding and were in an advanced process of healing so they applied a healing cream only. The ones who had severe wounds indeed had the same treatment as humans and were now resting over the floor or on improvised beds made with boxes and old cushions.
Over the day, the revived vampire's body started to degrade faster than it did back in Acuna. Luckily for Stoker, who was probably the most needed, his own body could hold it better, much like Rymer's, but the Viscounts were the worst from the group. The obese vampire said, after a rough examination, that while he couldn't figure out why they were decaying, he said that since their bodies were smaller they succumbed first. He and Rymer had bigger mass making the process slower. They couldn't do much, either, only bandage up the wounds that started to appear from out of the blue and try to keep in place their limbs that seemed to lose strength each passing minute. Edgar was the first in been taken into bed as his legs stopped being able to support his weight. Virginia watched over him, taking care of his wounds albeit her own body presented these same symptoms. Tove felt pity for the girl and accompanied her over the night. Stoker sat quietly in what it used to be his office when he was still the director of the bizarre laboratory, looking through the window, and Rymer was nowhere to be seen, each of them slowly waiting.
Lucian woke up rather late that night, feeling refreshed after the rest and finding most of the humans sleeping already. A few of them were watching over their families and friends and others were too excited to sleep. The vampires were grouped with the humans too, forming groups with the ones still up and a murmur of chit-chat went through the big room. Surprisingly, Nish was alone. He was reclined over an old and worn out divan with his eyes closed. Lucian twisted his mouth and looked around not finding Dumas or any of the vampires the former Duke resurrected with the Terrennial's help. Nor did he saw Aaron, though after some questioning, one of the vampires told him the boy staying with Ernest and the rest. Lucian then sat down with the group to hear the situation of the resurrected vampires, how their health was decaying fast and described to him the strange symptoms they had. He already knew the consequences about it and knew exactly what was happening but he still felt sorry for them, especially the Viscounts. They also told him a few stuff regarding Dumas they had been talking about for the last couple of hours, how they all felt against the fact that Dumas stays in the city and other not so nice feelings held for him.
After some walking around, Lucian found out where the Viscounts were staying. While Virginia and Tove weren't around, Alexander told him how Edgar was doing and how eager was the boy to talk with Lucian about something. The wind Terrennial accompanied the man to the room where he was staying and when he entered, he saw Edgar lying on a bed, on a bed tainted with the blood that poured from his open injuries, even when most of them were warped with bandages. Lucian could see small trails of Dark Matter leaving the body of the boy. He feasted his fists, unable to look away from him now.
"Are you... going to stand there all night or what?", came Edgar's weak voice. He opened his eyes and smiled softly.
Lucian smirked but it soon faded away. He made his way to the bed and sat on the chair where Virginia used to watch over his brother.
"You know, it was too good to be truth.", started Edgar. "One moment you and the boy killed us, and the other we were alive again, facing the gunslinger and Dumas with the Terrennials... And now I'm dying, once more.", he tried to sit but his weak arms fell under his own weight. Lucian helped him and put the pillows comfortably behind him. Edgar sighed and the vampire could see how hard he was trying to prevent his tears to come out. "I believed in the Duke, even in Ratatosk back then... I wanted a place were we vampires could live in peace because, after all, we live in this planet too, it's our home too, right?", the boy looked at Lucian hopefully before moving his eyes in front of him. "Virginia often told me she wanted to go to the Moon after she found out about that stupid cannon...", Lucian laughed softly. The stupid cannon was the thing that made possible for his younger brother to reach him when the seal that lead to the Dark Castle broke. He could make that possible if Virginia wouldn't die so soon. "She said that Lunar people lived there long ago. The city was still up and she wanted to see it... because it was beautiful, and the books didn't do justice to it... But we weren't allowed to go outside space, even just for fun. Ginny and I tried many times to steal Scrhöndinger to just fly a bit... but only Perrault could pilot it."
Lucian sat there and silently heard everything Edgar had to say. The vampire boy put his hands on his stomach, wincing in pain when his shoulder hurt.
"Dumas knew that the soup wouldn't work after a while...", cursed Edgar, frowning. "He knew! After all, he hadn't changed at all! He is still a fucking selfish person, not interested in the feelings of the people surrounding him! Why is he so full of himself even now?", screamed, fastening his hands over his hurting sides. "He used us, just like old times, didn't he?", biting his bottom lip, he readjusted on the pillows, but still with his muscles tensed in anger. "I know I hated him, but now I hate him even more..."
Lucian wanted to tell him the real reason as to why his body was rooting but it would be pointless as the only way to cure him was gone. He never expected Dumas to take the lead in reviving them to use in the war and never guessed the former Duke would have the guts to do it, considering he would see Rymer again when he is now with a new lover he cares about.
Hate was a powerful feeling, something Lucian knew very well and an emotion that drove him to do many of things he did up until now. If Edgar had the strength to move, without doubt he would beat the shit out of Dumas. The thought made Lucian smirk as he watched how Edgar stood in silence before squirming when pain strikes his body. Then, he turned to the other vampire and Lucian saw an emotion he wouldn't guess to see in a vampire, and it was sorrow. He met a lot of vampires who were sad and had even grief, but not sorrow.
"Lucian...", said Edgar, finding enough strengths to sit on the edge of the bed and lock his eyes with him. "I don't want to stay here and wait until my death.", he took a deep sigh. "Waiting like this will be too painful for Virginia and I hate seeing her so depressed and worried like this, it's not fair for her.", the boy took Lucian's hand on his. "Kill me please."
Lucian's eye widened.
"What? "I can't... Well, I can but I won't do it. It's not my right to take your life-", he stopped when Edgar started to laugh and Lucian then realized what he just said. He smiled as well at the irony.
"I'm already dead, Lucian.", his eyes couldn't restrain his tears anymore and so he let them fall on his cheeks. "Don't you see? You killed me along with my sister four years ago! I shouldn't be here, talking to you!", he sniffed, tightening his hands on Lucian's. "At first I was happy to see my sister again, to see that finally everything ended and now there is a world for vampires to live in peace again! But then I remember... I remembered that I was dead for a reason, that you killed me for a reason... And I should stay dead. Because who would like to live like this?", said as he watched how his body slowly disintegrated.
Lucian was about to argue about that but Edgar continued.
"I don't deserve a second chance, neither does the Duke. Really, I don't think he does...", answered at Lucian's mental question. "Just because he changed doesn't mean he undid all he did in the past."
"...you can always try and start from zero, though-"
"That's a second chance! And Dumas doesn't deserves it!", he started to cry again. He tightened the sheets on his hands and ripped them apart out in anger. "He doesn't! People like him shouldn't be grated with a second chance...!"
Lucian knew the real reason why Edgar was mad is the fact that he, along with his sister, were dying for their acts from years ago and the Duke, who should of have the same fate, was alive and kicking. Edgar didn't find it fair and he was angry about that. He might not care about himself, but he cared that Virginia was going to end up the same. She had better possibilities of being accepted since she, overall, was a rather nice and loving person.
"Just kill me already Lucian, I don't want to keep it like this. It hurts Virginia so much... I can't tolerate it...", said Edgar, after a long silence, sitting up and watching Lucian's eyes carefully. "Please, I beg you."
"...Will you mind if I keep your soul and Virginia's?"
It was an odd request, especially from someone like Lucian, Edgar thought. Why would he want something like that? But then he remembered what powers he had now and the fact he now had to feed differently from before. He smiled. At least, he and his sister will be together and in a very safe place.
"I don't think she will mind at all."
Lucian stood up and put his hands on Edgar's shoulders. He could feel the boy trembling under them and how he squeezed his hands nervously.
"...Are you ready?"
"Not at all...", admitted the boy.
Lucian smiled.
"It's not going to hurt more than it already does.", assured as his hands turned purple and from them, several and small oozes came from it, enveloping Edgar's form slowly.
The oozes covered his body and in mere seconds, they disappeared. When Lucian took his hands away he cradled in them a small and glowing orb that formed there. Without thinking it twice, he pushed it against his chest and there it disappeared. He sat on the chair again and saw the lifeless body of Edgar staring him back. He put the body on the bed again, closed its eyes and put his hands on his chest before he left the room. Lucian found Virginia a few meters away from the room and the girl immediately run to him and took a glimpse inside the room. Her eyes watered and tears started to roll down her face. Tove, who was floating behind her, sniffed.
"I'm sorry.", whispered Lucian as she took her away from the door. He noticed, then, that she was missing her right arm and left eye and had bandages all around her body.
Virginia sat on a chair and Tove sat on her shoulder, hugging her as Lucian dragged another chair and sat in front of her.
"He told me he wanted to bring you to the moon.", said Lucian and she smiled, crying out loud and laughing at the same time. "If you hang in a little, I might be able..."
"No, it's ok. I know all the effort he put to let me visit it, but right now I don't care anymore.", Virginia dried off her tears with her left hand and sniffed. "What happened with his soul? Alexander told me he didn't want it anymore..."
"I have it.", Virginia looked at him, puzzled.
"How? I thought Terrennials were the only ones..."
"I'm a descendant of the Lunar Tribe and I still held Lunar Energy within me, so I can save yours and Edgar's soul in me. It's what he wanted, too."
Virginia gave a small nod, putting her hand on her lap as she twisted the edge of her small skirt.
"How are Rymer and Stoker?", Lucian changed the subject and Virginia seemed to appreciate it.
"Stoker's body is falling to pieces, and Rymer's is still hanging, but I doubt he will be able to save his ass from this.", she sighed. "I'm so sad for Rymer... He really was one of the few from our group I truly cared for.", she frowned moments later. "Dumas wasn't worth of him, even in the first years of just knowing him, he treated Rymer like crap, thinking he was so mighty to do whatever he pleased."
"You should save that strength for later.", reassured Lucian with a soft smile. Virginia blushed lightly, avoiding his gaze. He stood up. "You will probably need it."
""Where are you going?", asked Tove.
"Somewhere.", waved his arm as he disappeared once he went through the door.
Nero appeared on his shoulder, rubbing his head against his neck, Lucian scratching his ears when the Terrennial finally took his position, hearing him purr. The two of them hadn't to walk far from the room to find Dumas sitting besides a window, looking outside at the starry sky. Perrault was sitting on his head, doing the same. Lucian reclined on a couch in front of him, without saying anything and Nero curled behind his head, adopting a more comfortable position on his shoulders. Dumas looked at him but didn't say anything. None of them did or say anything for some minutes though the horned man wondered why Lucian would spend time with him rather with Aaron. He didn't care much about it, either, he was more concerned about Rymer in those instants and was trying to digest the fact he was no longer going to see him. When the vampire came to him, his body was already rooting, missing some fingers and with tainted bandages all around his muscled form. It made the former Duke cry without being able to hold his tears. Perrault was unable to keep seeing Rymer like that and excused herself, disappearing from sight as the two of them shared a tight hug, though Rymer only wanted to properly say good-bye to him since the first time he couldn't. The vampire detested the idea of Dumas staying with him and watching him die when he already had a new partner to share his grief and sadness with. The decision made Dumas angry at the time, he complained and argued with Rymer about it, but now he understood and was glad to not experience it.
"I thought you were going to be with Rymer."
Dumas growled and hissed at Lucian. Perrault frowned and started to wipe her tail angrily.
"Do you think I will be able to endure seeing my first love die, again, before me?", whispered between his teeth as he glared at Lucian, but he laughed softly, which irritated Dumas even more.
"What the fuck are you laughing at?", cried Perrault.
"So, now you know...", he grinned and Dumas' expression became still. "You know what I felt when I lost Ella, what Aaron felt when he lost Trinity, what Nish felt when he lost his friends and past lovers, what everyone felt when you were in charge...", he laughed again. "You kept saying you were angry and sad about Rymer's dead in the first place, but you were only looking for an excuse for your behavior a decade ago."
"Shut up!", Dumas stood up violently and almost hit Lucian if it wasn't that Nero was with him. He could feel his power already leaking out of the Terrennial, forcing him to step bakcwards. He stood in place with his fists trembling in anger. "I know what I did ten years ago, I don't need anyone or anything to excuse myself from the things I have done!"
"Oh please, don't tell me you didn't want to rip my head off when you found out who I killed first.", the vampire grinned. "You still did whatever you wanted with the other vampires under your charge, even when Rymer was officially your mate you still treated him like a nobody when you were on the throne."
Dumas' eye opened in shock and the luna Terrennial frowned.
"How do you know about that?", asked as her tail wiped out again.
"Virginia just told me."
Dumas swallowed hard, frowning as he glared at Lucian who had a cocky smirk on his face.
"…it did happen, but not anymore."
"Stop being a liar!", shouted Lucian, standing up and confronting Dumas face to face. "You hadn't change, at all! If you changed like you are saying, you wouldn't have asked me to revive Rymer when I asked you to help me out with my vampire powers! Instead of possibly avenging Rymer's death by taking my life right there or actually refuse to help me out, you decided that you needed someone to cry over his shoulder, to complain about your problems or just to fuck around!", Dumas flinched at Lucian's shouting, but remained silent. "Even now Nish is putting a lot of effort from his part to maintain this relationship and I really admire him, because there is no fucking way someone would ever want you.", he growled, expecting a comeback, but when nothing happened, he kept talking. "You always been selfish and narcissist, you always thought only of you, don't really caring at all about others. And don't start with the whole war thing because you know very well it was only because it would benefit you."
"And to hundred of people too.", was Dumas' weak reply.
"Oh, don't start, don't start...", Lucian grinned and chuckled. "I know very well what you were thinking while the war lasted. Don't try to hide it because I know very well that you didn't give a damn about us, you just... played along, you could say. You used us… I don't doubt that you changed your point of views over the years, or that you are trying to change yourself but just because you want to change and be a better person doesn't undo the things you did in the past.", the vampire lifted his right hand and touched Dumas' right cheek but he slapped it away. "You keep trying like you want to erase the past, to pretend that nothing happened, that you never been that cruel tyrant that ruled the world and enslaved humans, who hunted and terrorized cities and towns of the East. Give up, Dumas.", he sat on the small, old and ragged couch again. "People don't forget that easily and just because you helped a lot in this war, doesn't mean they're going to forgive you for the things you did to them."
Dumas grinded his teeth and dug his nails on his palms, using all his strength to prevent choking the life out of Lucian. Instead, he decided to flop down on the same styled couch and let Perrault pet his head to try and calm him down. After some instants, the man's expression changed again into an angry one when a thought crossed his mind.
"Then...", he started. "Then you knew Rymer wasn't going to survive... Even when I asked you to revive him with Ursula, you still agreed to it, knowing the consequences!"
"You should have known already that it was impossible for other Terrennials, besides Perrault, to revive the fallen vampires. You seem to have forgotten a lot of the ancient culture.", calmly said Lucian as he stroke Nero's chin lazily.
Dumas arched his eyebrows in confusion. His nails, which had been digging into the armchairs, relaxed a bit.
"What do you mean?"
"The only element with enough power of healing is Luna.", started the vampire. "It has more healing properties than the Earth, and Luna element can restore the body and the soul of a living thing effortless with the time. It was quiet obvious that you were going to succeed in reviving because your Terrennial is of the Luna element, meaning that Perrault's power was enough to restore your body functions to normal, to fix every little thing it had off. How do you think you lasted until today?"
"If that's true then, why my body hasn't healed after all these years? Why I still feel dizzy, nauseous and can't trace with her?"
"It did heal.", Lucian answered to the first question. "The dizziness is probably a side effect of the powers working on your body. While Luna element can restore a body, it takes time to restore it completely. Your physical body should be already healed, but what it's restoring should be your powers. That takes a lot of time. That's why you can't trace with her yet but can summon your own powers. As long as you aren't healed completely, you can't use her powers… Perrault was only speeding up your process in recovering your powers."
"Why didn't she used them in the first place?", asked, looking up to his Terrennial. Lucian shrugged.
"Maybe if she did, it would be too much to your new and recovered body. She might know about that and healed you slowly to prevent the breaking of your physical form."
"Wouldn't she be able to... fix the other's bodies?"
Lucian looked at Dumas with surprise.
"Didn't Perrault told you?", the man looked up to her and saw a faint blush of embarrassment cross her face. Her tail wiped again. "She lost her powers when the Terrennials sealed Vanargandr.", the former Duke widened his eyes. "She isn't able to use her Luna powers anymore, like Nero can't use his Dark powers anymore. He only can because I share my own energy with him."
"…What about her then?"
"I'm bonded to you, in the same way Nero's bonded with Lucian so I doubt I will disappear anytime soon. Since I'm not able to keep restoring your power you might never be able to gather them at all.", softly said Perrault.
Silence followed and after a few seconds, Lucian stood up and walked past Dumas. The vampire rose his gaze and watching him.
"I'm leaving now, I have to work with the others.", he waved a good bye but then stopped, turning to face Dumas again. "Ah, by the way, half the people in here want you dead. I suppose you should know…", the vampire smirked when he say that Dumas stood up with a shocked expression on his face. Then, the expression faded off and it was replaced with a dark killing desire growing faster each passing second.
"…This… This is what you wanted, from the very beginning, right!", screamed with poison in his words, tightening his fists even harder now.. "You used me, you used everyone in here. You used even your own mate to make true your goals; you are no different from me."
Lucian stood in place, with the words in his mind, thinking over them. After a few seconds, he smiled.
"Yeah, in some aspects I'm very similar to you and to a hundred of humans and vampires. The only difference is that I'm not obsessed with supremacy of a certain race. Besides, this wasn't only my own goal, my own dream. This was a promise I made to a lot of people in the past. Unlike you, that can't fulfill anything your own life without stepping on others, I keep my word to the very end and use my own means.", he smiled again. "I bet you know that you will not be welcome here anymore, so I suggest you and Nish starts packing their things and go where the wind guides you."
Dumas watched angrily how Lucian's figure disappeared in the shadows. He returned his gaze then to the window before coming and punching the wall in front of him, opening a huge hole on it. Perrault jumped from his head, feeling the intense energy coming from Dumas. He couldn't believe all what Lucian did was to finally exile him from the East Lands, to take everything from him, to force him to hide and be ashamed of what he is. He couldn't believe that after eleven years Lucian finally got his revenge on him from what he had done in the past. The worst thing was that he couldn't even notice what Lucian was thinking all along. Dumas thought he was the one convincing and controlling the man to finally have what he asked for in exchange of his favors, only to see it was the other way around. He even might have been responsible of him eventually suggesting reviving the fallen vampires with all his indirect of "not having enough soldiers" or "not being strong enough". He also now realized that he only came to him in the first place so he could gather Perrault's powers, to be able to get Vanargandr's one afterwards. Since the beginning he clearly had the intention to bring everything to madness just to achieve an almost impossible dream.
"The fucker!", shouted opening another hole on the wall.
Several days passed since then. Most of the families were already working on the crumbled houses, having the help of the rest of the community from different parts of the East Lands. The ones hiding in other places were coming as well once they heard the battle was over and were working in rebuilding Acuna. Kay decided to go back to his old village to see his family for the first time in a long while, saying he would be back in a few months, but Ernest indirectly told him it was fine if he wanted to stay there. If Ernest had a family still alive, he might as well do the same.
Not everyone was happy with the outcome, though. Vampires who were angry about this "race merging" started to argue and complain about the fact, treating in creating another "war" to kick the humans and the vampires who allied with them out of the city, but Lucian was clear enough that there wasn't a chance of negotiating and kindly invited them to stay and face the consequences, or leave peacefully to other regions. This went for the humans too and there were already a few of them who were packing up their belongings, the ones that managed to survive to the battle, including Sheridan and Carmilla. The professor was glad the fight was over, he was happy that everyone he cared for managed to come alive, that his inventions were a great success but he couldn't forget the years he spent with Stoker and Dumas, all the horrible experiments he did and the lives he destroyed. He couldn't bear the fact vampires were going to live within this same city or next to him. The thought was disgusting and he opted to leave the East Lands towards places where more humans than vampires lived. He would keep in touch, he would indeed miss the city and miss his companions and friends but he couldn't get over it.
Aaron decided to help Sheridan to pack his things to keep him occupied and away from Lucian for the moment. He was better after all the thinking and the little chat with Rymer days before, more questions popping in his mind but he wasn't in the mood right now to confront Lucian about them. He wanted to stay with the professor for the time he could before he finally leaves. Sheridan appreciated the kind act and was happy as well, putting away a lot of stuff he had saved over the years and he had no idea he still had. Some prototypes of new solar guns were capable of working and those were some of the gifts he gave to Aaron, among some photographs he had of him, Carmilla and Laura for the boy to keep.
"Where's Carmilla?", asked Aaron after noticing the maid was no where to be seen.
Sheridan tensed his muscles and doubted if he should tell Aaron about it. He bended down and took a closed box, gripping the edges of it with his fingers. The man sighed, dropping his shoulders.
"…She… She wanted to talk with Lucian for a bit before we depart.", the man put the box into a bigger one. "I don't know about what, but I guess she feels a bit nostalgic or something.", Aaron's body tensed as well, but he paid no attention to it. Instead of worrying it, he kept helping the man with his belongings.
Said maid and the vampire were quietly walking in the crumbled Acuna, in a part where no one was repairing yet. Silence reined the place and only the wind blew from time to time. The sun was still rising on the horizon, but Lucian thought it should be around nine in the morning. He wore his casket armor like always but, this time, he had put on his old cloak, which was torn and ripped in certain parts but his pockets were still unharmed, where his hands were resting now. Carmilla wasn't wearing his maid uniform and, instead, had a black dress that reached her knees with sleeves reaching her elbows. There was a collar around her neck with the same red jewel she uses in her maid uniform and the same black shoes. Lucian was very surprised when the girl came to the Vambery and asked to talk with him privately, raising everyone's curiosity and the anger of a certain teenager boy. While Lucian knew he might be doing a risky move he still went with her to know what she wanted to talk about. That lead them to walk around Acuna in silence and Lucian was starting to get a bit impatient with Carmilla.
"How's Aaron?"
"Confused.", Lucian didn't look at her, neither did Carmilla. There was certain awkwardness between them, in the way they walked and tried to stay as far as they could without making it too obvious to the other. "He had been realizing a lot of stuff lately, about me mostly, and some others about himself too.", he took a quick glance at the girl and saw that same emotionless face she always wore from the day she was turned into a hybrid android. "He's angry and, at the same time, happy. Can't say he is completely fine but he isn't going to jump of a cliff either."
Carmilla smiled softly. This made Lucian smile too.
"He seems to be a nice kind, right?", she wondered around with her eyes and saw the big wall that was the frontier that coasted with the enormous dessert just behind it. "Laura is a nice girl too. Very sweet and loves my company. I enjoy it, too and I admit I had fled from the mansion a few times to visit her.", Lucian couldn't hold his laugh when she admitted this, which made Carmilla laugh softly too.
"She seems to be quiet charming.", they started to climb up the stairs that lead to the wall and the first dunes of sand came into view.
"With all these happening… I had been having… flashes of memories…", she crossed her arms over her chest, tightening her hands over them. "I can't say I got all my memories back, but at last I know what I once did back in the Guild, when you…", she spoke slowly and almost into a whisper. Lucian remained silent and with his eyes fixed in front of him. The dessert was now fully visible once they reached the highest part of the wall and the wind up there was stronger than at floor level. "Sheridan said it might have been trigged with the stress of the war and the emotions attached to it what it opened the door to those memories, though it might sound hard for you, I guess, I'm really not too pleased about it."
"I wouldn't be either.", replied, coming to a stop and finally facing Carmilla. "Sometimes I wish I could erase them. I don't have nice memories from my past, of what I did, of what had happened from the times I lost you. If I were able to lose them all, I would, but it's something it's going to torment me for the next centuries.", he saw how Carmilla frowned in sadness. He sighed and smiled. "Don't be like that. I'm used to it by now."
"…I wasn't talking about the… past of the Guild when I stopped.", she avoided his eyes and Lucian felt his body tense out of the sudden. "…I came to remember my other past life."
"…B-But… How?", Carmilla shrugged.
"A part of me was still locked up in your mind, in your soul.", then, it hit him. "When Aaron put a part of him into you, when… I put the remaining powers into his body so he could bring you back, it's when that part of me disappeared it's when the images started to appear. It seemed that the thing that holds back the memories from my past life was that part of me that was still linked to you."
Lucian faced the dessert. The wind blew and played with his cloak and their hairs. Carmilla was unsure if she should approach or stay where she was. She opted, though, to stay there.
"But… I felt I didn't belong there anymore.", Carmilla smiled sadly. "Inside your mind… I felt it was all about Aaron and all the love you have for him. I saw how willing he was to reach for you, to try and bring you back using whatever means he had.", she turned too and gazed upon the dessert. "You're in good hands so I'm good with it.", Lucian, unable to keep his composure, laughed.
"Yeah… Laura is a good girl too, so I suppose I shouldn't be worried about it either."
"Although…", her face turned serious from a moment to another and the man had an idea of what she was worried about in reality. "He…"
"Yes, he is angry at me because of that too."
"Well, I used to be angry too when you used me despite you were madly in love with me back then.", Lucian blushed in embarrassment and bit his bottom lip. "I know Lunar Children have a lot to struggle with their two faces of their powers but it's been a while since your kindness showed up. I could see it when you are with Aaron and feel all the love you can give to him. Don't let lunacy take over you like it did in the past.", they remained silent for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Unless you truly don't love him.", whispered, turning his head and seeing how Lucian's eye widened. "Don't get me wrong, but I'm talking about my own experience."
The man remained silent and Carmilla did the same. They stood there for a few minutes before the girl suggested returning to the city. Lucian walked behind Carmilla now, thinking about it.
Perhaps Aaron might think he has a wrong impression of Lucian's feelings and actions, but the vampire was certain he loved the boy. At first he had other thoughts for him and for what he wanted to do, but in the meaning time he started to see how nice it was to spend time with him and the things he learned from him too. He couldn't count the times Aaron yelled his lungs out, arguing with Lucian about his past or other things he said it were stupid or didn't matter at all. In more than one way, Aaron opened Lucian's eyes and his personality grew into him. His nature is somewhat lonely and not much talkative as any other normal man and it might be true his actions lead to some misconceptions, especially for Aaron who didn't know how to translate them, bringing up a lot of questions and doubts in him, but Lucian had to be discreet or his plan would fall. He had to be secretive and sometimes uncaring with Aaron to be able to do the things he did. He needed the boy like that in order to make things easier for him.
It hurt Lucian more than anything he did in the last thirty years, it made his heart ache in an unbearable pain when he fucked him and didn't talk or show any emotions after it. He wanted to cuddle and hug the boy, and show that he truly loved him and loved to be with him, but he couldn't have the boy against him and his thoughts, which was the reason why he wanted Aaron to stay and don't participate in the war for most of the time, why he didn't talk about what he was feeling or the reason why he was so silent about his past, too. Dyango was this close to bust all the hard work he had done and for that he had been pretty angry at him, the reason why he had hit him when he encountered back in Acuna or still treat him like crap every now and then. He is calmer now and even happy to see his little brother again but it seemed Dyango had a bitter feeling from it and was now ignoring Lucian. He didn't mind that, though. Knowing Dyango, he knew it wouldn't be too long until the young man was all over him again.
He was now regretting a bit of doing all of that. Aaron was having second thoughts about their relationship, he couldn't blame him after what happened, and Lucian suspected it might end up with both of them taking different paths in life. It saddened him to think they had high chances of splitting apart but Lucian was optimist, for the first time in his life.
When they finally returned to the more active part of the city it was already noon. Sheridan was ready to go, he built an improvised carriage from some wood boxes he found in his mansion and Gunda helped him to tie two of their Lizardmen to help them carry over the stuffs. From the attack of the strange, black shadows, only five lizardmen survived. Two of them were going with Sheridan and the other three were going to be used to carry the ones who were incapable of walking from Gunda's group. They didn't left yet since Kay told his father he wanted to stay at least one more day before going and Gunda acceded to his son's wishes. Carmilla gave Lucian a friendly hug before she jumped over the carriage with Laura and Sheridan, quickly driving off when she was up. The workers were slowly stopping their jobs to eat and take a break, so the place was getting empty slowly. Lucian stood in place, watching them leave before he turned to his right when he spotted from the corner of his eye Aaron's figure walking to him.
Aaron seemed to be tired despite he had taken a lot of rest after returning to the Vambery. His naturally small form seemed smaller after the hard and exhausting work from the past months that nearly consumed him. His hair was indeed longer and wilder as Lucian soon noticed, his face showing up a more mature look despite he was now officially seventeen. The boy's birthday had been over a week ago but it was no place or time to celebrate something like that. Aaron was aware of it too but he wasn't in the mood lately to think about it either. The first thing the man noticed also, when Aaron was now standing next to him, were the fact that his eyes turned a beautiful shade of what it seemed to be a yellowish-orange color, something close to golden but not shining like it. His pupils were thin lines, like Lucian's, and the man could see the tip of premature fangs growing inside Aaron's mouth when he opened it to speak.
"Where did you go with Carmilla?", he didn't sound angry, but there was a hint of jealousy in it. He was standing straight with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on Lucian.
"To the frontier, she wanted to talk.", the man turned and faced Aaron completely yet his hands remained inside his pockets. "Where were you these days?"
"Working and helping the others, trying my hand in building but I rather leave that to the experts."
Lucian snorted but he saw Aaron didn't mean it as a joke. He sighed.
"Just spit it out. I hate it when you go around like this.", Aaron bit the insides of his cheeks before he uncrossed his arms and put them on his sides.
"Why?", he extended his right hand and looked around, showing to Lucian what he meant with it. "How could you do this to… to Ernest, Bea, Kay? Me, of all people!"
"I pretty much didn't care about Ernest and the rest, nor do I care what had happened to them because of my doings. My only concern was you.", he lifted one of his hands to stop Aaron when he was about to talk. The boy shut his mouth. "I'm well aware I might have given you the wrong vibe, that you might have seen I didn't care about what we have or give the impression I was only with you to be my fucktoy.", Aaron winced at the word as he had been slapped across the face. He bit his cheeks again and tried to keep his composure. "But I do care about you, I mind the things that make you uncomfortable or anything that has to do with you because I deeply care."
"The thoughts I saw in your mind the two times I had to dig into your brain weren't exactly too reassuring.", he frowned.
Lucian stood silent for a few seconds then, he smirked.
"Oh, dearest child, don't you remember that you shared your own memories with me, too? Have you forgotten those thoughts about saying how crazy I was to do this, that I was a completely idiot for doing this? That I was a selfish bastard, an arrogant and pretty much the things I think about Dumas? You even compared him to me in more than one occasion. ", Aaron's skin paled and took a single step backwards when Lucian approached him, having his face millimeters away from his. "How did you think I felt knowing my own boyfriend thought I was an ass? Not so good, I assure you, so don't pretend the only one hurt here is you."
"The give me a more logical or… or a more convincing reason as to WHY you caused… such… mess? Why would you go to this extreme just to… to do this?", Aaron's anger suddenly faded away and was replaced with resignation. He sighed and, instinctively, he put his forehead against Lucian's, to see if that heavy feeling would go away by feeling the skin, the presence of the man he loved. Another thing Lucian noticed was how tall the boy had become. Lucian smirked and laughed softly. He kissed Aaron on the lips for the first time after all that time and then he started to walk backwards.
"All I wanted in my life, all I truly craved since day one was power. I wanted power, I wanted to be the strongest and Ratatosk provided me the greatest source of power in the entire Galaxy.", he put a hand on his chest. "It resides in me now, and I'm virtually able to do anything I want now. But this…", he did a turn with his arms extended, showing the entire city to Aaron's eyes. "This… This I made it for you. And it was my most important thing after I met you. At first it was out of pure selfishness but once I met you…", he laughed again as he walked off. "You can't complain much either. You are the mate of the most powerful creature in this planet, of this Galaxy, and you have it to your entire disposition. You have the power to control me, can't you realize that yet?", he smiled and laughed again. "Why, you ask? Because I love you."
Lucian turned around and walked off, leaving a very shocked Aaron behind. He couldn't believe that was Lucian's true intentions all along. He suspected the fact it had been done to be able to gather Vanargandr's power but… Give himself entirely just for him? He couldn't believe it but was glad to know Lucian indeed loved him, loved him deeply as Aaron did.
Then, he smirked. He crossed his arms and chuckled softly. So, he had Vanargandr's powers at his hand too, to do whatever he pleased as well… He chuckled again. He was now fully realizing he had such power at his disposition too, and it felt somewhat good. No wonder why Lucian wanted them, why Ratatosk so eagerly pursued them and how Dumas craved them back. His chest filled with an indescribable feeling… but he shook it off his head. There were stuff to do and Lucian would probably take a walk in what it were now his new kingdom before reuniting with him again to discuss about the curse and vampirism and keep reading that stupid book. The boy, with a smile on his face, run back to the Vambery to see if there was something he could still do now that Sheridan was gone. Dyango, Dainn and Nidhoggr were up on a roof and been watching the entire scene between the two. Dyango, who was the only one sitting on the edge with the book he wrote in his hands, took off his hat and gave a sigh. He smirked, looking the figure of his brother on the street.
"You know…", said the young man, playing with his hat. The book forgotten for the moment. The title, written out with golden letters, shone brightly with the sunlight. "After all what happened, I'm still unable to know who's controlling who."