Song playlist: Conquest of Spaces by Woodkid
Chapter 19
Revelations
/rɛvəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/
1. something revealed, especially a dramatic disclosure of something not previously known or realised
2. a manifestation of divine will or truth
A body-sized cylinder was sliding its metal shell open. One white leg was stepping out, then another, until Mika was standing up as naked as the day he was born.
In the rest of the room the other dozens of capsules were hissing open at the same time, steam rushing out in clouds that half obscured the unclothed vampires that were rising and stretching. The lingering scent of magic was something Mika was long used to; he had felt it intruding his body for the past hour, strengthening his muscles and steeling his bones.
He was used to seeing himself naked- these monsters naked- but he still averted his eyes as he began to walk to the changing rooms.
Like always, a path cleared up for him so subtly that it looked like those vampires really did want to linger by their capsule for a bit longer, like that one really did want to walk over to the side to talk to someone and the other one really did feel like that spot out of Mika's way was just a better place for them to stand.
But the one thing they couldn't hide was the slight miniscule twitch of their noses as Mika passed them, instinctively recognising the scent of their Queen. A single drop was all Krul had needed to infuse into his collar- into the centrepiece red ruby gem that always felt hot against his neck.
Its removal was one of the very few things Krul denied him these days.
So the eyes followed Mika as he slipped on his uniform and entered the training room; some lowered away from his face, some icy cold, some prickly hot. But the ones that made him walk faster were the more rare ones, the stares that were lukewarm but no less intense in their borderline insubordinate curiosity.
As Mika stood straight in the row of soldiers, he could feel the vampire next to him flicker her eyes to him briefly before looking forward attentively. The vampire next to her leaned forward with an uncharacteristically shameless gaze before the first vampire pulled her back into place.
Just in time too, as their instructor glided through the door in a mass of dark cloaks and a low hood that left no inch of their skin exposed. Two hooded figures drifted behind him; it was hard to tell if their feet were touching the floor beneath their trailing robes. The already silent room fell even quieter in pin drop soundlessness as the figure stepped in front of the rows of soldiers, before throwing off their outer garments with one arm. It was a male vampire, with skin fitting training clothes that were as fluid as their movements.
"Elite soldiers!" he called out and the vampires dropped to their knees in perfect unison with their hands clasped against their chests. Mika clenched his jaw as he bent his head. "Her Majesty Supreme has announced to all that the warfare offence will commence in less than a week. You are the elite of this army, trained and prepared beyond the rest to bring our realm glory and victory. Today is the day your years of training will come to an end."
He paused for a few seconds, letting the unspoken anticipation build up
"Today, you will be given your battle swords."
The instructor nodded his head to his two companions who raised their hands and began chanting lowly, black swirls of magic forming over their hands. Like a mirage, the far wall vanished to reveal a huge room stacked full of weaponry.
"Stand and collect your sword," the instructor ordered and one by one each vampire unfolded themselves to walk forward and be handed their sword. In their turn each vampire grasped the golden and black hilt, drew the sword out of its dark maroon sheath and uttered the firm command, "Sword, bite me."
One by one, thorned vines crawled out of the handle, bit the vampire's blood and made the grey blade glow a hungry red.
That's all that was needed- to check that there was nothing defective.
Mika kept his head low as the line emptied until it was his turn to step forward. For the first time in his life he thanked his vampire traits for keeping his heartbeat steady and his palms cool as he wrapped his fingers around the offered blade.
Michael had warned him what might happen, but he refused to lose face in such a public setting by opting out. He didn't care about vampire politics but he did care about doing whatever it took to get on that battlefield.
"Sword, bite me," Mika said the triggering words and sure enough the blood red thorns were shooting out, but he could already hear the beginning of alarmed whispers because there were far too many and they were all sinking their teeth and trying to devour his flesh like his blood was the best meal they'd had in their entire life.
The instructor was rushing forward with the two hooded vampires at his heels.
His hand was trembling violently and Mika let go of the sword but the vines were too tight, wrapping the blade against his wrist, digging in harder and harsher before they started to shudder and shriek. The sword blade that had been dripping with blood was shining from a gluttonous red to a harsh bright white light that got brighter and brighter an r-
…
..
.
..
…
When the light finally died down, Mika was on his knees in a circle of astonished soldiers and a shattered sword in his lap.
"Mikaela, correct?" the instructor asked quietly and Mika realised his hand propping his back was the only thing stopping Mika from falling to the floor. The load on his lap lightened as the hooded vampires carefully levitated the sword pieces into a box one by one, before sealing it with a layer of Dark magic.
Mika realised the instructor was waiting for his reply but oddly enough, he hadn't berated him. There was a strange shine in the normally strict eyes. He picked himself up self-consciously and said, "Yes."
"It appears you have an affinity towards Light magic," the instructor continued and a new wave of barely heard whispers broke out among the soldiers. "Our regular swords aren't designed for heavy magical strain. Can you perform any spells?"
"I don't know any magic. It was just a mistake."
The instructor simply looked at him, then at the broken shards of the once intact sword being carried away. Mika corrected himself, "I didn't know I could do magic."
"Try a basic flame spell. Picture the flame in your hand and chant elafris."
Wanting to be anywhere but there, Mika raised his left hand and recited the spell monotonously. A few long moments passed before a small white flame coughed up in his palm, then died out just as fast. The instructor's shoulders slumped a little before he shook his head and assured Mika, "Magic is a very rare ability, especially Light magic among vampires, and that is already more than most can achieve. I will talk to your…benefactor about developing your abilities and an alternative weapon."
As the instructor left Mika empty handed and moved on to the next person in line, Mika moved to the furthest end of the room. Although the session had resumed, order had not been fully restored. If anything there was a stirring wind as the previously covert side-glances had now become blatantly open stares.
Even in his shadowed corner, Mika was the centrepiece of attention.
The vampire who had been leaning forward in line to stare at him earlier sidled up to him. She opened her mouth but before she could speak, the session had ended and Mika was walking quickly out of the door.
"You shouldn't bother him," the vampire's companion commented from beside her. "You know who has laid claim to him."
She got no reply, and her almond shaped eyes sharpened as she observed her companions's obsessive gaze at the door.
"Teuta," she intoned lowly, warningly. Teuta finally turned to her, tugging her black hair loose of its bun so that it cascaded down to her waist in long waves. A wild smile was all Lusina needed to know to make her want to pinch her forehead.
Lusina said lowly, "Not this bad habit of yours again."
Mika was sitting on Ceres in outer space. Hanging in the midst of the asteroid belt, the dwarf planet was suspended amongst a vast array of rocks from huge rocks to tiny specks of particle sized dust clouds.
Logically speaking, he should be dead. But this was a dream and the sun behind his back felt like a warm comfort like a cosy sweater.
In front of him Michael was kneeling graciously, the glazed rivers of ice beneath his body luminous with the light of the sun and stars. As always, his very being held a sheen of white that radiated from his human form, as if a mere shell of flesh and flood could not completely contain his being.
"We are beings from beyond the boundary of the earth's surface," Michael carried on his lesson with his evenly smooth voice. "I am the Light, starlight and lightning. Lucifer is the Dark, cosmos and fire."
"Ying and yang," Mika murmured before he could stop himself. "You balance each other out."
Even though his face remained impassive as ever, the slight morphing of his lips indicated Michael was pleased. "As do Yuichirou and yourself. This is the Fate of the Beholders of the Eyes. The Beholders will have a natural inclination towards all magic, but you will find yourself overflowing with Light magic."
Michael inclined his head and a wave of Light magic enveloped them both as effortlessly as taking in a breath of air.
"Light magic's strength lies in healing whereas Dark magic's strength lies in destruction. You feel it, do you not?"
"I can feel it," Mika breathed, closing his eyes. He didn't have to look to see the sparks flying off the tips of his hair and fingers. "It's…alive. It wants to heal, to purge the vampire blood in me."
"Not yet," Michael simply said. "You have not reached your full magical maturity yet. Tell me what else you can feel."
Mika exhaled and put his hand to his chest. The Light magic leaped eagerly to his flesh, swirling around his torso and legs in circles, but he realised the magic was only reaching the surface of his skin. He felt like a hollow tube, a peaceful void in the core of his body.
"You're a being of lightning," Mika said slowly. "Lightning runs through darkness…but this emptiness inside me, waiting ready to be filled…could it be the other way around? Am I a conductor of Dark magic?"
He looked at Michael, like a student checking the teacher's facial expression to see if they got the right answer because usually Mika would be resolutely confident but this was Michael.
That pleased subtle aura was back on Michael's face and Mika felt a surge of electricity at the sight.
"My Beholders have always been intelligent, but you are truly a gift," Michael actually smiled and Mika tried his hardest not to sit there for the rest of his dream with a blush. "You have the ability to conduct Yuchirou's Dark magic to use his destructive powers, just as Yuichirou can conduct your healing powers. The result is magic hundred times more powerful than what you could achieve on your own. The Beholders were always meant to work together, keeping peace and balance throughout the realms as its guardians."
Micahel fell silent and Mika was content to sit there with his mind running through this whole new world that had been opened up to him, revising all his conceptions and strategies and possibilities. After a long stretch of quiet Mika saw a slight downturn of Michael's lips, so small it would have been easy to miss if Mika wasn't so used to Michael by now.
He licked his own lips and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I do not wish to trouble you any further. Both of your and Yuichirou's suffering has stemmed from hosting us and this was not our intent. The Eyes were sacrificed as a gift, not as a burden."
"It's not your fault. You're already helping me by teaching me how to use my magic. It's the humans' and vampires' fault, not yours," Mika reassured, shaking his head bitterly.
"To speak plainly, Fate would not be pleased for my level of interference with your destinies," Michael revealed and the bolts of lightning running down his long hair rushed down rapidly. "But you two children are being manipulated by everyone and I shall not stand by it. Although perhaps my intentions are not completely selfless, it is only fair someone stands by your side Mikaela."
Tears welled up in Mika's eyes and Mika ducked his head, trying to hide behind his fringe. Michael leaned forward to wipe them away with his glowing white fingers and smiled again.
"Be bold, be courageous, be yourself Mikaela. I have faith you can save Yuichirou from the trials that approach."
Michael kissed Mika's forehead, like a parent's protection charm from the world out there.
"You must save him, for I wish to see my other half saved as well."
"We should not be doing this," Lusina hissed, running behind Teuta. "Entering Her Majesty's quarters is an offence enough to have us all beheaded, let alone to breaking in to see her charge. Do you wish to see another day living? Do you have an execution wish?"
"Shhh!" Lusina hushed and signalled for them to flatten themselves against the stone wall. Two of the Krul's personal guards were obstructing the doorway with their menacing spears. "Elemary!"
"Leave it to me," Elemary said half attentively, already moving his hands rapidly and forming his mouth into silent spell syllables. His hands began to glow black as an illusionary wall warped into existence, shielding them from view, as the real wall behind the backs thinned into air.
From underneath their hood, Elemary's hair burst loose of its tightly braided bun and smacked him in his face.
"I hate it when that happens," he groaned, trying to bunch up his hair and slip through the wall at the same time.
"If it weren't for Elemary's silencing spell, you idiots would all be dead," Fearce snickered from behind and then shut up as Lusina looked at him severely.
"His room should be here somewhere," Lusina muttered to herself as the group sneaked down the extravagantly long corridor behind the wall. "Check out this massive bathroom! Royalty really are on a whole different level."
"Which is why Her Majesty is going to execute you first when we're caught," Lusina added on darkly, mostly to Teuta's deaf ears at this point.
Teuta suddenly stopped and the other four vampires instinctively followed her lead and halted. She was stock still, staring wordlessly at something in front of her.
Looking at each others, the rest cautiously drew forwards to see what had made the very Teuta herself speechless. As soon as they followed her gaze, their mouths fell open.
In the gap of on open doorway, Mika was standing in his bedroom with his brow furrowed in concentration as if he were listening to an unknown voice. But what had made the normally composed vampires begin to tremble in shock was the sword that Mika was pulling out of his right hand in a rainfall of white sparks.
It was pure white and more intricately elegant than any of the gold filled chamber rooms of Krul's palace could have ever forged. It had swirls and engravings and pitch black gemstones that were as deep as an endless abyss. The fine blade was sharper than a thousand knives, emitting a blindingly bright light that was lapping eagerly at Mika's fingertips.
Any vampire would recognise it in a split second; it was the legendary sword of Michael.
Mika's right hand had a blood red stone shining with the same light.
Mikaela was the Beholder of the Eye of Michael.
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