Chapter 3: History Lesson and Young Maidens
OOC: Real sorry I haven't updated in a few months. Been really busy with exams and such for school. LOL, this Guiche thing was one of the most requested things on the original fic I took over, so expect it in the next chapter. (which will be much longer.) Again real sorry for the Hiatus, and the length of this, had this in my documents for a very long time now. Updates will be much more frequent from now on, I promise you.
And yes, the history was made up, as well as the country of Archaeon and Roma, which will be important in later chapters.
Oh and yeah, just imagine Robert Carlyle speaking in a Romanian accent, pretty sexy I know...Regardless, I imagine, just like Dracula from Brahm Stoker's novel, Dracul to be very polite to proper young ladies. Everyone else, as shown in the previous chapters he treats like dog shit.
The thick smell of aging papyrus lingered around the dark room, the vampire careful not to step over any cleverly placed magical traps. Gabriel made his way to the large, metal bookshelf in the center of the room, which was surprisingly bare otherwise, besides a small wooden table and a pair of chairs which sat a few steps away from the bookshelf. Getting into the off-access section of the library had proved to be a simple affair, a well placed glamour charm on the present librarian, a shy-looking girl of sixteen years was all the vampire needed for the young girl to grant him access into the room. Normally, Dracul disliked manipulation, preferring to settle things with the sword. But the young girl had done him no wrong, not to mention why waste time and energy when there's an easier alternative?
According to the girl, the forbidden wing of the library could somehow…"tell" what information a person was seeking; a very ancient spell performed by the head master two hundred years ago. As such, there was only one book shelf, and its contents changed, depending on the person, and what knowledge the person was looking for at the time. As such, the shelf held scant few books, all aging leather tomes. Gabriel, going for the first one that caught his eye, reached for the far most right book on the top shelf: grabbing it with his clawed hands. Dust mingled on the book's leather cover, as did the words, printed in silver ink, which Dracul read in his head,
"History of Halkeginia"
Gabriel grabbed a few more books from the shelf along with the large glorified history tome, and placed them on the wooden table, before sitting down on one of the wooden chairs. He scanned through the moldy pages with uncanny speed, taking in the information at a beyond human level, requiring only a few seconds to read, and remember each page due to his vampiric reflex's .
From what Gabriel had gathered Halkeginia, consisted of seven major nations, Tristain, Albion, Germania, Gallia, Romalia, Archaeon, and Noval Roma. Archaeon and Noval Roma were much, much larger then the rest; although to be frank, it would be more accurate to label Archaeon as a huge, miserable frozen wasteland. Interesting enough, Geographically, Albion was apparently more-like a large floating island in the sky then an actual country! Nova Roma bordered the eastern side of Gallia, stretching out all over the right side of the map of Halkegini, labelled as the "Noval Roma Empire" in faded black letters. When he read about the nation itself, the ancient Roman Empire from his world instantly came to mind, practicing many of the same policies and edicts. It's capital was in the center of the empire, the mighty stronghold of Eboracum, and was ruled by Emperor Constantine Augustus IX. The only other nation of note was Archaeon.
The frozen north-land bordered the northern parts of Germania, being expressly labelled as (which must be stressed in a factual and very formal book on history and geography) as "the worst, coldest, most-frozen, circle of Averus imaginable" Archaeon itself was split into dozens of smaller city states, all whom were south from the parts of Archaeon that has been undocumented. According to local superstitions, the area was swarming with monsters, and beasts that haunted mans dreams. As was expected, Archaeon's climate was cold. Extremely cold. Dotting the massive landmass were endless Cordillera forests, and towering mountains that sprouted above the clouds. The largest and most powerful of it's many city-states was Subia, nestled northeast of Germania and closest to the border. To give the reader an idea about how impossibly large Archaeon was, it stated that Subia alone was twice the size of the entire country of Tristan.
According to the book, Archaeon's city states were once, in fact united, forming the Aronica Leauge of Archaeon. Several hundred years ago, the league launched an invasion against Germania, which resulted in Germania, Gallia, Tristain, and Noval Roma joining forces to combat the threat, all lead by the Roma general, Marcus Agrippa. Even with the mighty Roma Empire on there side, the coalition of nations were barely able to beat back the Aronica onslaught, and at best held a stalemate for two decades. At last, that stalemate was shattered when a Tristain mage, Vulkane weaved a torrent of flame so huge in size, and so powerful in strength, that it incinerated half of the Aronica force in seconds. The coalitions grand army pressed the advantage, and drove the remnants of Archaeon's forces back to the frozen north. The league would later collapse on itself, from petty squabbling between the city states, and would become the withered husk it is in present day.
The coalition of nations disbanded soon after, but the events didn't stop there. Seeing the chance for glory and conquest, General Agrippa disobeyed orders from the current Emperor to return home, and took his finest soldiers, the thirteenth legion, and marched north to Bylder, Archeon's northern most city-state, and beyond into Archeon's uncharted frozen wasteland. They were never heard or seen from again.
In terms of military strength, Nova Roma was by far the most powerful, followed by Germania, which was still a good deal behind. Nova Roma's soldier, titled Rommulus legionaries, were well-known for there extreme discipline, superior training, vast skill, and high quality armor.
While Tristania was the weakest, with its only notable feature being the Tristan Magic academy, pathetically relying on protection from other nations to defend itself from foreign threats. Noting it to himself, Gabriel was starting to see a repeating pattern, among the many kingdoms of Halkeginia. Each practically mirrored a nation from his own word. For example, Romalia was essentially the Holy Roman Empire, and even ruled by a pope, similar to how the Catholic Church's pope ruled over the middle ages in Europe. Gabriel was starting to think he hadn't been simply transported to another planet or world, but perhaps an entirely different alternate reality?! Gabriel dreaded the though, as borderline Science Fiction wasn't his specialty. Demons, devils, angels, as well as any other supernatural force Dracul could easily handle. Not alternate dimensions, worm holes, aliens, and any other bonker nonsense.
Regardless, there was some good news from all of this. Cackling darkly to himself, Dracul thought
Not even there most powerful Magi are a fraction of my strength. My power is beyond infinite!
If Gabriel willed it, he could hold dominion over this new world and reign as the Prince of Darkness once again.
Thankfully for the people of Halkeginia, Dracul had no ambition for such a feat. He was here for a single purpose, find the connection to the growing success and intelligence the demons are achieving in the ruins of his world, and assist his son, Alucard, in dealing with the threat. Nothing more, nothing less.
Putting down the book, Gabriel let out a long, deep sigh. It was going to be a boring trip.
Entering back into the normal wing of the large academy library, Dracul took a moment to pause at the front desk, were he had entered from. The young girl he charmed was still there, her rosy cheeks suddenly becoming scarlet red at the sight of the vampire lord. Adding to the slight, undeniable guilt he felt for manipulating her feelings with magic, Gabriel suddenly realized she bore an...uncanny resemblance to his late wife Maria, if not in appearance, then mannerism. She was undoubtedly attractive, with long black hair done in braids, a...ehem sizable "chest", and beautiful violet eyes. Wearing large silver spectacles, she vaguely looked similar to that girl Dracul encountered earlier, if not as small.
Tabitha I think her name was,
Unlike Louise, the girl gave off an impression of innocence and warmth,
Giving the young teenager a bright smile, he bowed his head, placing his right hand over his heart, speaking in his thick accent, "A thousands blessings upon you, milady." This girl was clearly different then the spoiled brat he was expected to address as master. A young maiden that needed to be treated with chivalrously
The girl blushed even more in response, briefly tugging at her hair in a childish manner, "Ummm...your welcome..." She was obviously attempting to ask him something, but struggling due to shyness. Going by her body language, the vampire knew the young woman was socially awkward, so he attempted to ease the tension. Raising his right hand, he bowed once more,
"Please milady. Call me Dracul."
The girl nodded her head. Going by her attempts at good manners, she was obviously a member of some nobility, as she got out of her chair and did a proper curtsy, "I am Duchess Mique Ellinas of Subia, pleased to meet you, sir."
A Duchess from an Archeon City-State
He regarded the girl oddly. A member of the Archeon aristocracy attending a magic school in Tristian, was very...odd. The invasion from Archeon was barely three centuries ago, surely tension was still high? In any case, the would explain why her skin was so pale, and regardless, a lady was a lady. Gently taking her hand, Gabriel planted a light kiss on it, saying, "I am Vlad Tepes Dracul, Prince of Romania. I can assure you , your grace, the pleasure is all mine" He didn't need to mention his other titles, as well as the fact his fiefdom was in another reality. Not to mention he wasn't the Prince of Romania, but the Prince of Darkness. The girl's face, somehow, managed to get even brighter at the mention of his title,
"Pri-nce?! She barely stuttered out. Gabriel nodded his head, "That I am, milady." Afterwords, Gabriel frowned slightly, manipulating this girls feelings was starting to feel horrible, as he began to see her vibrant youth and optimism
It's time this charade ended,
Whispering words, in Latin, Dracul released the charm, "Per septem angelos, Arch alis tuis dimittam" Dracul's eyes flashed white, and in an instant, the spell was broken. Mique rubbed her eyes, gently taking off her glasses. The blush was gone, as well as her wishy washy attitude. She asked, in a shy voice, curious, "Pardon me, sir, do you need anything from the library?"
Before Gabriel could respond to Mique, a rather loud voice interrupted the two peoples conversation. Standing beside a rather large wooden book shelf, was a young man with blonde hair, as well as a smaller girl with raven-dark hair. Both were wearing the standard uniforms of the academy, along with its archaic black cloak. The boy with blonde hair was leaning in closely to the young girl, whispering into her ears, which Gabriel could easily hear due to his enhanced vampiric abilities, "Shall I show heaven, my dear raspberry?"
Ugh,
The blonde boy was moving his hand closer to the young girls breast, under the shadows of the bookshelf. The girl's face was scarlet, as she feverishly shook her head, "No...Guiche...I cant..." He held the student in place, going closer to the nape on her neck, "Come now, my dear. I know you want it. I shall show you true beauty." Gabriel, snorting, ignored Mique, and headed to the libraries exit. He had what he needed. Throwing him off, however, was a loud, angry, rage-filled scream that erupted from outside, "GUICHE!"
Turning his head around, Gabriel saw the blonde-haired boy, this "Guiche", quiver and grow pale faced. He grabbed the black-haired girl by the arm, and crouched, hiding behind the book case, he whispered to the raven-haired girl, "We must flee!" The doors to the library slammed open, as a young Tristan student entered. Mique made a half-hearted attempt to greet her, but the other girl brushed her off. She had long blonde locks, but her attractive face was off-put by her hateful expression. Just by a basic examination of the situation, Dracul knew what was going on. He muttered dryly to himself, as a devilishly grin appeared on his face. Gabriel had a splendid idea,
"What is a man, but a miserable pile of secrets?"
Walking slowly to the young girl, he placed his decrepit hand on her shoulder, which caused the blonde student to face him. In a rather rude way, she called out, "What?" The vampire prince pointed his long, bony, clawed finger to the position were Guiche was hiding, saying gently, "Whom you seek is there." The girl regarded the vampire oddly, before nodding her head and heading to the location. After being discovered Guiche made excuses, pleading to the both of them that nothing unusual was going on. Both girls weren't stupid. The conversation ended with a painful slap from both girls, and the two of them walking out of the library together. Smirking, Dracul was about to follow them out, when a cry of rage from behind freezed him in place, " YOU! You knave, you rogue, you have insulted my honor good sir, as well as spreaded-ummmm-unnecessary and unfounded rumors, that caused me grievous harm!"Dracul snorted, speaking in his normal, emotionless tone,
"Were you not misleading both of those young ladies, with sweet words and deception?" His face went scarlet, as he angrily pointed his finger at Gabriel, "That's none of your business, sir, you have stained my honor, and I desire blood to reconcile this grievance. I DEMAND A DUEL!"