Sorry for not doing this one sooner, but my life has become utter hell, and half the time it truly is a wonder on how I still know which way is up. Anyway, this chapter will focus mainly on the cameo for one of my favorite authors on this site. I want to give a big shoutout to him and want you all to give him your love and support. UnflinchingResolve, you have been a true inspiration to me, and know that I will never forget how you changed my life. Thanks, man; and God Bless the rest of your days. Anyway, without further adieu; here is Chapter 16 of A War to Remember.
Chapter 16: Two Sides of the Same Coin Part 1
Mark was sitting at his desk in his shack, which was barely lit. The whole place only had two small candles, and only one of them was lit. Mark's features and clothing, however; were clear as day. He was 6'8'' in height, 200 pounds in weight altogether, his muscles clearly visible underneath the black T-shirt he wore underneath his Pitch black trench coat. His eyes were hazel brown, and his hair black as night.
Mark was writing his book on the fundamentals of Necromancy. He didn't know why exactly he wanted to write on this particular subject, or why he was even writing it in the first place. He wasn't going to have it published or nothing, but something in his heart told him to do so. When you have lived a life filled with nothing but hardship; you come to realize that if your heart tells you to do something, you better damn well do as it says.
Anyway, Mark looked to see that he was about 3/4 done with this next to last chapter. He looked up at the old Victorian-styled clock that was hanging on his wall right above his desk that he was sitting at and realized that he had been writing for over 9 and a half hours. He started at about 7:30 in the morning. It is now 4:58 in the evening. Considering how much he had written in that time; he figured that it was time for a break, and to grab something to eat.
Mark stepped outside of his little residence and got a nice blast of fresh air. Even as a vampire; it's nice to just enjoy the simple things in life sometimes. Since he was not the typical vampire, for his "condition" was layed upon him through the Keyblade, and a few other black magics; he was able to eat normal food and be out in the sunlight with no adverse affects. In a way, he felt that this was quite a gift, but it was also an even bigger curse, for Mark had two personalities; and one has completely embraced the power given to him.
Right now, he's just the same old Mark. A good guy, who wants nothing more than to just help others when he feels that they need it, and to be left alone when he doesn't want to socialize. He's the quiet hero whom doesn't talk much, but his actions speak volumes.
Then, there is his alternate personality that, through the dark arts of this world and the power of the Keyblade, has managed to suppress almost in full, and only takes over when in an extreme or life-threatening situation. The bloodthirsty Daron. He is the exact opposite. If he sees anyone that he feels is an obstacle in his quests of personal interests; they die. He loves a damn good fight and always wants to fight anyone whom is extremely strong. He will butcher, slaughter, defile, and just downright destroy everything in sight if completely unleashed. His prowess in battle is almost completely unmatched and unrivaled. Only one creature has faced him and lived to tell the tale. The great and powerful Alucard.
Man, that was a battle for the ages. Mark had gotten sloppy in covering Daron's tracks from the damned rampages he would go on, and Hellsing finally got him onto their radar. However, at the time; Mark was in the employ of the Vatican, and this was back in 1945, right after WW2 ended. Alucard had been sent to eliminate the same vampire that Mark was sent to eliminate by Iscariot.
Mark had been sent to a little town inside of Carrubba, Sicily. It was a very small and lightly populated town that had a minister named Giuseppe. Nobody had anything else on the guy, but he had became a vampire and starting turning the whole town into either ghouls or new vampires. Thankfully enough there were only 4 vampire fledglings reported to have been created out of the 200 people that lived there. Giuseppe had begun to try and move his operations even further, but Mark had arrived there shortly after the whole town had been decimated.
Flashback : Mark arrived to see Giuseppe prancing along toward the next town; strutting like a damn peacock. When Mark approached the now irredeemable creature, it spoke with the weirdest Italian accent Mark ever heard. He would almost swear the guy was fucking Scottish.
"So, another lamb to the slaughter, eh? I wouldn't mind having another...wait. you're with the Vatican, aren't you," spoke Giuseppe. He noticed the famous Vatican holy cross necklace that adorned Mark's torso.
"You have become an irredeemable monster. Allow me to end you quickly, for if you refuse; you will suffer a fight you are sure to lose," spoke Mark. Giuseppe just laughed and ordered his ghouls and 2 of his vampire fledglings to kill Mark, whom is now summoning his Keyblade: Osiris. The hilt was adorned with a sort of golden Egyptian spear type of look, and the sides had a light angel wing on one, and a dark angel wing on the other; the blade was black as night and had lost soul patterns adorning it, and the actual key was that of 4 hawk beaks.
"HA! And what will you do with that? Key me to death? HA," laughed the vampire. Just as the 2 vampire fledglings jumped and lunged straight at Mark from above, he swung with lightning speed and cut them both in half. As their bodies hit the ground, they burst into flames and turned completely into dust. The ghouls then all pulled out guns and started firing. Just as the bullets were about to impact, he pointed his Keyblade up and held it above his head. In an instant, a white magic barrier appeared around him. The barrier then began deflecting all the bullets back at their attackers; damaging the ghouls, but not killing them. Most of them just lost their limbs. A couple had lost their heads, therefore killing them and turning them to dust.
Giuseppe looked on in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing! Most of his ghouls were now rendered useless, and half of his fledglings were dead within a matter of 40 seconds! What the hell was this guy?! Giuseppe looked at the key again and realized it looked like a sword shaped like a key. Some kind of holy relic? It sure as hell wasn't like any relic he ever heard of. He knew of relics such as the Nail of Helena, the Spear of Destiny, the Siphon of the Angelus, the Pieces of Eden, etc. This, however, is unlike anything he has ever seen before.
Mark then lowered his barrier. Without hesitating, Mark charged at the remaining ghouls; cutting of their heads with lightning fast speed. They were all pretty defenseless, considering how most of them didn't even have their arms thanks to the barrier Mark had. Once he finished them off, Giuseppe then ordered his other two fledglings to take that key away from him.
"Here. Go ahead and try," Mark said. As they came running up to him, he threw his Keyblade at them; basically offering it. One of the fledgling vampires caught it, then raised it up to try and attack.
Giuseppe smirked. Ha! The poor fool. Does he not realize that we can follow movements as fast as his? My dear fledgling, you have done a great job. Now strike him down with his own weapon! As the fledgling approached Mark, Giuseppe noticed the blade disappear from his fledgling's hand and materialized back in Mark's hand. In the next instant, Mark twisted his wrist for a perfect neck shot at both fledglings whom were in the exact same formation as the first two, except that this time they were on the ground, and he had a better shot. He then swung his Keyblade from the right to the left, cutting off the heads of the two vampire fledglings. As their heads and bodies hit the ground; they burst into flames and turned to dust.
Giuseppe looked on in horror. How did his weapon do that?! That's...Impossible! What is he?! Mark looked at the horrified vampire and raised his Keyblade at him. Giuseppe took a step back in fear. Mark was ready to end this. To be honest, he would rather be back at the Vatican doing chores and helping out rather than facing a weak as hell vampire, but since nobody else inside Iscariot was available for deployment, he was alll too happy to oblige when the Pope asked him to take on this rather..."unpleasant" task.
Giuseppe's horrified face then turned into one of anger and determination. He knew that he had to face this paladin himself with all he's got. He watched as Mark got into his own fighting stance. Giuseppe then got a smile on his face. I know! I will approach him from behind. As I am charging, I will teleport behind him, duck low, and then...AHHHHH! Just as he was about to start running, a hand with a white glove was shoved straight through his heart.
Mark looked on in disbelief. It only took a split second before the hand of some hunter had pierced Giuseppe's heart. Giuseppe gave one last look of disbelief before bursting into flames and turning into ash. After Giuseppe was no more, a tall man in a red trench coat, orange goggles, and a red hat was remaining.
"That almost took all the fun out of killing him. But, it was worth watching you dispose of his minions," the crimson-clad man spoke, chuckling loudly afterwards. Mark examined him a bit more closely for a second, and then realized who it was: the great Vampire Alucard. Mark was shown sketches of the No-Life-King, and this was one of the looks he donned on occasion. Great. Here we go again.