Chapter 8: Loss of Humanity

The purple-haired undead girl, who was supposed to be in a coma with a hole in her stomach, walked up to the very confused and frightened Akko. Elizabeth's body seemed to hold no wound and she smiled warmly at Akko while waving.

"Hey Akko~! You want to get something to eat– woah!"

Elizabeth was interrupted as Akko ran up to the girl and captured her in a tight hug. The vampire was surprised by the sudden contact and looked down at the Japanese girl with raised eyebrows.

"Huh…Akko?"

"Y-you're alright!"

Elizabeth could feel something wet on her chest and the sound of Akko trying to catch her breath as she buried her face in the vampire girl's clothes. A few seconds later, she looked up at Elizabeth with reddened eyes and tear stricken face.

"I-I was so confused about why you didn't heal!" Akko shouted. "At first I thought you were faking it– but then Diana said in your in a comma and…a-and…"

Akko continued to cry, clinging to Elizabeth harder. The vampire girl started to feel slightly uncomfortable because she had no idea what to do.

"You…were worried about me?" Elizabeth questioned. "Despite everything I had done to you? Were you not trying to kill me during our battle in the botanical garden?"

The brunette witch rose her head again and screamed right in the vampire's face. Tears, spit, and snot flew right into Elizabeth's cheek as Akko howled.

"O-OF COURSE NOT! I DIDN'T WANT TO KILL! I JUST WANTED TO EXPOSE THE TRUTH TO EVERYONE AND— I DON'T KNOW— P-PUT YOU IN JAIL!? FOR MURDER!?"

Elizabeth stared at Akko as if she was a bizarre creature and then she let out a loud laughter which drew the attention of a few people walking in the streets of Blytonbury.

"T-THIS ISN'T FUNNY LUCIFER!"

Elizabeth placed a hand on Akko's head.

"Calm down! I was just surprised by how soft-hearted you are~..."

"S-so…you were faking it weren't you? You didn't lose consciousness?"

"No...I really did lose consciousness."

"S-seriously!?"

Elizabeth chuckled.

"Yeah, you're attack was far stronger than I expected! If I didn't move out the way that last second you might have actually killed me!"

"B-but what about your blood? When I saw it, it looked red instead of black—"

"Before losing consciousness I had cast an illusion spell on myself to make my blood look red to others. It's a common practice I do all the time."

"Oh…okay…"

"…So~? As I was trying to say before, you wanna get something to eat? I'll pay of course~!"

"I-I don't really want to—"

"Oh come on, Akko~! It's the least I can do since I got you expelled! Come on~!"

Elizabeth took Akko's hand and dragged her to the nearest restaurant. The place was one that neither girl recognized and it seemed to be struggling with an identity crisis since it was mixed with both a medieval and cowboy theme. The two took their seats their waiter, who was dressed in cowboy and knight armor got up spoke to them in an awful Southern accent, and handed them the menus. Elizabeth allowed Akko to get whatever she wanted. Not holding back, Akko got a humongous burger with the sides of the plate covered in fries. Like a wild animal, the young girl devoured everything while the vampire on the other side of the table ate nothing and simply watched the other girl with her hand on her cheek and with a smile.

"I'm just letting you know!" Akko said as she was chewing the last pieces of the burger. "This isn't gonna make me forgive you for what you did to me!"

"I know I know," Elizabeth replied while waving her hand leisurely. "I just wanted to treat you with a little something…and to give you a proper explanation of what my mission was."

"W-what!?"

Akko stopped eating and threw herself across the table, getting all up in Elizabeth's face.

"You're just going to tell me!? Why now!?"

"Because you've been expelled and it's the perfect time. Now sit back down or else you will cause a scene."

At first, Akko wanted to be rebellious and not listen to Elizabeth, but for some reason, her body seemed to move against her and she quietly sat back down and continued eating. While Akko still held a calm expression outwardly, inwardly she was very confused about why she obeyed when she had no intention to.

"Huh? What's going on?" Akko said inside her head. "Why did I just sit down?"

Elizabeth cleared her throat, gaining the attention of Akko.

"Akko…my mission was to get you expelled from Luna Nova."

"...Huh?...HHHUUUHHHH!?"

Akko screamed, causing a lot of the people nearby to look over in annoyance. Elizabeth put a finger to her lips and shushed the loud girl.

"Enough, Akko! Let me explain—"

"NO WAY!"

Akko's anger was at its highest as she stood up on the restaurant's chair and started breathing heavily. Her face was red as a tomato and her fists were clenched.

"YOU GOT EVERYONE IN THE SCHOOL TO HATE ME— TO THINK I WAS A MONSTER! YOU GOT ME EXPELLED FROM THE SCHOOL OF MY DREAMS! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT!?"

"Excuse me, young lady!?"

Coming towards the table was the waiter.

"Yer disturbing the other customers! Please take a seat or we'll have to ask yah to leave!"

Akko turned to the waiter, her eyes flashing darkly and grinding her teeth.

"Shut…UP!"

The sound of Akko's deep and monstrous voice caused the waiter to sweat and back away in fright.

"I'm sorry ma'am," Elizabeth called out softly. "She's just having an awful night."

"BECAUSE OF YOU!"

Akko turned to Elizabeth while snarling.

"IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT I– I!"

Losing all sense of reason, Akko tried to jump to the other side of the table to tackle Elizabeth. But then…

"Stop…"

Elizabeth's purple eyes glowed and then a sensation similar to Akko being tied down by rope covered her body.

"W-what!?"

The brunette's body fell limp like a doll and everyone gathered around her with concern.

"I-is she alright!?"

"Did she have a heart attack!?"

"Someone call a doctor or something!"

Elizabeth snapped her fingers and then darkness consumed everything. Akko could see nothing but dark clouds and the vampire girl smiling down at her. After a while, the darkness faded and Akko found herself and Elizabeth in a new scenario.

"Get up, Akko…"

The brunette slowly got up and saw that she and Elizabeth were on the top of a roof.

"H-how…"

"You caused quite a commotion," Elizabeth stated as she looked down from the roof. "I'm gonna have to ask my mother to deal with that."

"Y-your mother…?"

"Anyway, back to what I was saying before…"

Elizabeth turned back around to Akko.

"I was sent by my family to find you and get you expelled. The reason why…was so that we could claim that magic staff in your hands."

Akko looked down at the Shiny Rod and held it tightly.

"Y-you want the Shiny Rod? Why?"

Elizabeth giggled.

"You have no idea how powerful that thing is~...it's an ancient magical relic created by one of the most powerful witches in the world! If you harnessed it, you could even have the power to rule the world!"

"R-rule the world!? The Shiny Rod has the power to…"

"There are two reasons why my family was sent after it. One, was because we didn't want it to be used against us, and two, we needed to enact the second stage of our plan."

"Second stage?" Akko squinted her eyes at Elizabeth as she backed up, getting closer and closer to the edge of the roof. "What are you and your family trying to do? And why do you need the Shiny Rod?"

"The plan was constructed by my grandfather— he's a vampire too. The very first vampire to ever exist…"

Akko's eyes widened at the revelation.

"T-the first vampire…s-so you're the granddaughter of the Lord of Vampires or something!?"

Elizabeth shrugged.

"I guess. The scheme that my grandfather has been working on for centuries involves the construction of magic circles and manipulating the circuits of the magical roots embedded within the very planet. The idea is to harness the energy and return the Earth to what its original state…"

"The Earth's original…what? I don't understand!"

Elizabeth sighed and looked while playing with her hair.

"To sum it up…we're going to "destroy" this world and make another."

"WHAT?!" Akko shouted as she backed up further. "H-HOW CAN YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO CASUALLY!? N-NO WAY! THERE'S NO WAY I'M GOING TO LET YOU HAVE THE—"

"Akko," Elizabeth held out her hand. "Come to me."

"I-I…huh?"

All of a sudden, Akko started to move slowly towards Elizabeth. The brunette tried to fight whatever control was on her, but it was useless.

"W-what's happening to me!?"

Once Akko was face to face with Elizabeth, the vampire girl casually took the Shiny Rod out of her hands and observed it.

"It doesn't see me as a threat anymore," Elizabeth chuckled. "Must be because the stars were purged…thanks to you…when you launched that final attack on me."

"P-purge…what…"

"The Shiny Rod harnesses the power of light. By using darkness and negative emotions, you purged the stars into the opposite of what they represent. Now they are suspended and can be used by beings like me~...or to be more precise they can be used by our family thanks to your anger and the connection built between us~..."

"C-connection?"

Elizabeth put her lips to Akko's ear and whispered seductively.

"Remember when I killed you Akko~? To save your life…I turned you into a vampire~..."

"...W-what…?"

Akko's face became as white as chalk and her heart started to beat faster.

"W-what do you…?"

"That's right~! I imbued you with my essence and turned you into a vampire to save you from death~! See, look~!"

Elizabeth grabbed Akko's right hand and roughly tore off three of her fingers. Blood flew out of her small stubs as the girl screamed and cried. She fell to her knees and clung to her hand as the red liquid got everywhere.

"W-W-WHY!?"

"Akko…look at your hand."

The brunette did as she was told and saw that the bleeding already ceased and the stubs seemed to have been growing. The bone and the flesh were slowly coming to be like a plant rising out of the soil.

"I-I'm regenerating…?"

Elizabeth nodded excitedly.

"You're a vampire now~! Well, technically you're not really a full vampire. Your blood is still red and your regeneration is suuuuuuuppperrr slow! I would say your tenth of one. The process usually takes about a few months or so. But tonight, you already showcased a good amount of the undead power when fighting so maybe it might not even take a month for you~!"

"S-so that's why…"

The shaking of Akko's body was intense and seemed to show no signs of stopping. The girl began to hug herself and allowed the tears to flow out of her fear-stricken eyes.

"I'm…becoming a monster…"

"Indeed…"

"A monster…just like…me~..."

Akko looked up at Elizabeth with her eyes looking sharper than before. Her rage exploded and she wanted nothing more than to punch the undead witch before. But in the end, her body would not react in any action that could harm Elizabeth.

"W-what's going on!?"

Akko screamed.

"W-why can't I control my body!?"

"Oh! I forgot to mention…"

Elizabeth knelt down and smiled in Akko's face as she continued talking.

"Since I shared my essence with you and turned you into a vampire, that makes you my servant~!"

"H-huh!? Y-you're servant?"

Elizabeth nodded.

"Basically a familiar! You and I are now bound by soul and flesh! That means if I die— you die too! Also as the role of my familiar you are to obey my commands without a single thought!"

"Ah…Ah!"

"Isn't this great!? With this, you can fully your dream!"

"H-how can I fully my dream like this!? How can I—"

"Don't you get it~?"

Elizabeth got closer.

"By becoming my familiar and a vampire, you have gained immortality. Also the access to endless magic! You no longer need stuff like the Sorcerer's Stone anymore because you will become an Avatar of Mana— just like me and my family! And also, my grandfather has so many old books and I'll teach you all the amazing spells~! It will be so much better than that lame old Luna Nova!"

The vampire girl inched closer, cupping Akko's face and bringing their lips closer.

"Your life belongs to me fully…you can no longer live without me~..."

And then…their lips connected.

Elizabeth embraced Akko in a passionate kiss while the girl herself showed a face of unwantedness. However, she had no power to rebel and simply stood still as Elizabeth marked her lips and invaded the insides of her mouth.

It was Akko's first kiss…and an awful one at that.

Once the forceful makeout session was done, their lips parted living a strong of salvia connected their tongues. Elizabeth's face was red and she wore the biggest grin ever, showcasing the fangs behind her lips. But Akko's face was the polar opposite, she looked greatly afraid and was shaking repeatedly as if she was cold.

"Now Akko…slit your throat."

"Huh– GAH!"

Instantly, Akko raised her right hand which summoned long fingernails. Then with her own hand, she sliced open the middle of her neck causing blood to spill. The brunette gagged and suffocated on her blood as she fell over losing consciousness. Elizabeth stared at Akko with a giddy expression, enjoying the scene of the girl's suffering.

"Good night, Akko~..."

The last thing Akko saw was Elizabeth's face inching closer, going for another kiss. Akko wanted to desperately deny her, but as her vision slipped away she had no chance.


Author's Note:

I kind of found this chapter a little embarrassing to write because of the flirtatious aspect of it, but I did this way to kind of showcase the psychopathic thinking of Elizabeth. She is basically in love with Akko but not honestly not for the right reasons. The reasons will be kind of clear in the next chapter and the reason why Elizabeth is a yandere…will be explained later down the line of the story. Anyway, Akko got her first kiss but it's one she would definitely want to forget!

Please check out my own original web novel, "The Branded Hero Volume 1: Baxter the Failure". The tale of a hero who has been outcasted by the world since releasing The Demon King: /series/The-Branded-Hero-Volume-1-Baxter-the-Failure/info

And please check out my webcomic, "The Curse of Gringerfield" on Webtoon and Tapas!

Webtoon: en/canvas/the-curse-of-gringerfield/list?title_no=970667

Tapas: /series/The-Curse-of-Gringerfield/info

Next Chapter: The Birth of Fantasia