Sorry for skipping last week. I thought I was over my illness. I wasn't. I'm doing better now.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 24
Feliciano paced around the room, his hands buried in his hair. He knew that he had to inform Arthur and Lukas at the very least about the state that Vlad was in, but how could he do that without explaining why he had taken Vlad to the very room that he was supposed to avoid? All of the scenarios he played in his mind had the encounters going badly.
But he couldn't avoid this forever. The longer it took him to call Arthur or Lukas, the worse things would be. He put his hand in his pocket, intending to call them immediately and beg for forgiveness.
As soon as his hand closed around his phone, Vlad's heartbeat shifted again, becoming stable. Feliciano hesitated for a moment before he knelt down next to Vlad again. Vlad took a few breaths before his eyes scrunched up. When they opened and Feliciano could see the red orbs, he almost cheered.
"Are you okay?" Feliciano asked. "How do you feel? Do you need anything?"
Vlad blinked a few times before he looked around at the room.
"What happened?" Vlad asked.
"The moment we reached your room, you passed out," Feliciano said. "I was so worried!"
Vlad was silent for a few moments before he looked around again.
"Sorry if I worried you," Vlad said. He tried to sit up, and Feliciano helped him. He shook his head and leaned back. "I saw Razvan again."
"Who?" Feliciano asked.
"My ancestor. The vampire who fathered a dhampir and who put the demon in my bloodline."
Feliciano frowned.
"What happened?" he asked.
"He told me that prophecy," Vlad said. "We need to get Arthur and Lukas here too. I don't want to repeat anything."
Feliciano nodded, his hand going to his pocket again. He was glad that he wouldn't have to explain to Arthur and Lukas over the phone what happened to Vlad, but it would probably come up soon enough. His eyes raked over Vlad.
"You look a lot better," Feliciano said.
"It's only temporary," Vlad said. "Things are going to get bad again soon enough."
Feliciano winced and nodded. He checked the time. It was about three in the afternoon.
"Don't they still have classes?" Feliciano asked.
"Maybe," Vlad said. "Send them a text. It might be safer than calling."
Feliciano nodded and typed out a text, telling Arthur and Lukas that Vlad was awake, and that there was something that he wanted to tell them. He also informed them that, for the moment, Vlad was better, but he said that it would only be temporary. They needed to come home soon.
"Okay," Feliciano said. "While we're waiting for them, do you want anything? Water, something to eat?"
"Some tea would be great," Vlad said. "I don't really care about what type at this point. Just something a little… different."
Feliciano nodded, before he departed to the kitchen. He put the kettle on and went to the tea cupboard, finding many boxes. His eyes scanned the boxes until he decided on a mixed fruit tea.
Arthur and Lukas replied that they would come as soon as possible. Arthur had a class, but he decided to skip it. He said that Vlad was more important right now.
Feliciano had to agree. Vlad was more important than anything else at this time, and that included his coven. He knew that thoughts like that were treasonous, but it was the truth. Vlad was more important than Feliciano's brothers and his grandfather, and everyone else. And if anyone were to confront him about it…
Well, he hoped that he would have the courage to say it to his grandfather and the rest of the coven.
His thoughts drifted back to Gupta, and he winced. He didn't want Gupta to be anywhere near Vlad, especially if Vlad was unconscious during the process. But there was a chance that Gupta would be able to determine what was wrong with Vlad. That alone was worth the risk, wasn't it? If it ended up helping Vlad in the end, then it would be worth it, right?
…Maybe he should tell Gupta that there would be no need to come to check on Vlad. He could say that they were able to figure something out. But Feliciano shook his head at the thought. No, there was no way that Gupta would accept something like that. Gupta was intent on checking on Vlad, and Feliciano wasn't sure if it was because of his own agenda or because of his task from Romulus. Either way, Gupta wouldn't be happy if Feliciano denied him access to Vlad, especially after Feliciano tried to call him for help.
Feliciano glanced over towards the direction of the front door. Normally, they were barred from entering someone's home unless they received an invitation, but Gupta had always been able to find a way around it. Vlad wouldn't have to be conscious during any of it, and wouldn't have to invite Gupta in. It only worked when a human resident of a house invited someone in. Guests couldn't extend the invitation, but Gupta knew how to defy one of their most important rules.
But what if Arthur or Lukas were still there?
If the two of them opted to skip their shifts at the café, the same way Arthur was skipping his class, then there was a chance that Gupta wouldn't force his way inside. He wouldn't want to attract too much attention in the process.
But would they do it? After all, the café wasn't very large, and there weren't many staff members. They were already lacking one member with Vlad being sick, but if Arthur and Lukas were also missing, it wouldn't be good. Would they want to do that?
He shook his head as he poured the tea. Things were getting complicated, and Feliciano didn't know what to do.
…
"What do you think Vlad wants to tell us?" Lukas asked.
"I don't know," Arthur said as he slowed at a stop sign. "He might have had another vision."
Lukas nodded, before he looked outside. It was earlier than they usually left the campus, and he wondered if they would return. He still had a class in an hour, but Arthur was definitely skipping. Then again, they shouldn't have left their housemate while he was so sick in the first place, especially since it wasn't a mundane illness. If they needed to, they could make an excuse with all of their lecturers as well to tell them that they were also sick. It would buy them at least some time.
"Should we go to the café tonight?" Lukas asked.
Arthur grimaced. It was clear that he had been thinking about this as well.
"We probably should," he said. "There's no one else on shift tonight. If all three of us are absent, that's not going to be good for Gupta. We should have thought about asking someone to cover our shifts."
"It's a good thing that it's not too busy yet," Lukas said. "Just the two of us was a bit hectic last night. And it's too short-notice to tell Gupta that we can't come tonight."
Arthur sighed.
"Nothing is going the way it was supposed to go," he said. "Vlad shouldn't have been targeted by whatever it is that's targeting him, assuming that it's more than just the vampires. He shouldn't have gotten sick. He shouldn't have…"
"We couldn't anticipate anything like this," Lukas interrupted. "All we can do now is to ensure that things don't get worse, and that we can fix whatever is wrong."
"Alistair texted me earlier. He's going to see if he can find any other protection spells for Vlad. That's the issue at the moment."
"The protection spells that have been cast on his bloodline are being undone. I guess that I can see how the loss of those spells could have affected him. I should probably try casting something too. Do you know any more protection spells?"
"I think I have a few. But first, we'll need to focus on whatever it is that Vlad wants to tell us now."
They reached their house, and Arthur pulled up into the driveway. Lukas looked over towards the upper storey as they climbed out.
"Do you feel as though something's changed?" Lukas asked.
Arthur stilled for a moment before he nodded.
"Yes," he said. "It doesn't feel right. That's worrisome."
The two didn't spare another moment and rushed to the front door. They didn't bother with depositing their cell phones or anything and ran upstairs. They reached the guest room, only to find Vlad sitting in the bed, sipping tea.
"You said that there's something you needed to tell us?" Arthur asked.
Vlad nodded.
"I had another encounter with my ancestor," Vlad said. "He told me the prophecy, or at least, the closest approximation of the original prophecy."
"What?" Arthur and Lukas demanded, before they exchanged a look.
"I spoke to Toris," Lukas said. "He knew something about it, but doesn't remember a lot of it."
"Razvan said that there are a bunch of versions of the prophecies, and that there are a lot of different interpretations. He also mentioned that the one who made the prophecy was his three-year-old son."
"His… what?" Feliciano asked.
"Da. That was pretty much my reaction too. We're worried about the words of a toddler. But he told me that prophecies can become true in a variety of ways, and that prophecies aren't certain. They're more like clues to what would happen in the future. It's the interpretation that's the problem."
"Toris said that the version he heard said that the son would be stronger than any vampire that came before," Lukas said, "but he doesn't know about the part of the 'blood like rivers'. And he said that the new vampire king will be 'part of multiple worlds', but didn't know what that was supposed to mean."
"Razvan's version just referred to an heir, and also said that the heir would be stronger than anyone that came before. And the part of the multiple worlds… The heir is born from three: human, vampire, and demon. And I kind of meet all the criteria. I flat-out asked him if it was referring to me, and he said that it could be any one of my ancestors. The only thing that doesn't qualify me is that I'm not a vampire."
"But that could easily change," Arthur muttered. "What about the part of the 'rivers of blood'?"
"Just that conflict is going to be inevitable. Things are vague enough that things could go any way. It doesn't have to be bad."
"It almost sounds like it doesn't bother you," Lukas said.
Vlad coughed, and Feliciano tensed. When Vlad was finished and they could see his hand, it was covered in blood. Lukas felt sick when he saw that.
"The thing is, I'm dying," Vlad said. "If I don't become a vampire… The demonic influence is growing stronger, and my body can't take it."
Lukas and Arthur exchanged a look. It was something that Lukas had been afraid of, but he hadn't voiced his concern out loud in fear that it could become true. And based on the look in Arthur's eyes, he'd suspected it as well.
"N-no, no, no," Feliciano stammered. "Y-you can't die!"
"I agree," Arthur said. "There has to be something that we can do. Something that doesn't involve you becoming a vampire."
"The demon that infected my bloodline is an ancient demon, from the time of Roman occupation of what would become Romania," Vlad said. "It's really old and really strong. It was that type of demon that caused the original vampires in the first place."
"So then… why is it killing you?" Feliciano asked.
"Razvan tried looking for a way to make his human lover a vampire without them being part of the same vampiric bloodline, since he wanted to mate with her."
"Oh, and that would be a type of incest."
"How exactly would something like that count as incest?" Lukas asked.
"Vampires exchange blood with the human in the siring process. They become connected to each other, and to the other vampires in the coven. It's one of the reasons why it's so hard for vampires to be separate from the coven."
"So, if you were to change Vlad, you wouldn't be able to mate because of that?" Arthur asked.
"The mating process has its own exchange of blood that ties you to the vampire you're mating with, and not the coven. There are two different rules for all of it. And right now, if I were to drink Vlad's blood, we would finish the mating process."
"That's seriously all that's left?" Lukas asked. "How?"
"Most of the other requirements were met accidentally. And then there was…"
Feliciano indicated his wrist, and Lukas immediately understood. He'd been told that Vlad drank Feliciano's blood. What could have caused Vlad to act like that in the first place?
"I have no memory of that," Vlad said. "But I know that Feliciano wouldn't lie about something like that. And afterwards, my senses were sharper. I can smell and hear a lot better than normal. Sight seems mostly the same, though, and I don't know about taste and touch."
"Taste and touch don't sharpen," Feliciano said. "Taste changes completely. The things that you used to enjoy as a human become unbearable, and human blood gets more flavourful. Sweet, sour, salty, rich, bitter… That's how blood becomes to us. And as for touch… it actually dulls a bit. We can tolerate pain and temperature a lot better, unless it's direct sunlight. That becomes like fire to us."
Vlad frowned and nodded, absorbing the knowledge. Arthur and Lukas exchanged a look. Both of them were torn between curiosity and urgence. Lukas closed his eyes and turned back to Vlad.
"We need to get back on topic," Lukas said. "Why is that thing killing you?"
"…When Alistair went in my room, he said that he couldn't sense a presence," Vlad said. "He could sense an absence. And that absence… It came about because of the mage among the vampires."
Feliciano tensed. Vlad sighed.
"The mage didn't undo any of the spells," Vlad continued, "but he moved things around, as he tried to find something. And the thing he tried to find managed to slip his notice."
"If he didn't undo the spells, then how…?" Arthur started.
"The spells were cast in such a way that it contained the demonic influence. And he moved around them, providing that influence to slip past, and through me, and around me. Also, it's neither an infection nor a parasite. Like I said, it was one of the demons that caused the vampire race. And it merged with someone that was already a vampire. And it was too much for a vampire to handle. And then that vampire passed it on to a child who was half human. And that half-human became the progenitor for a line of mages."
"But how could that have stayed for all that time?" Lukas asked. "A-and what about different descendants? Siblings?"
"It didn't. The demonic influence became nothing more than an essence. It doesn't have sapience, but it does understand that things are different. And the absence that Alistair felt was the connection between me and that thing. It's not the way it's supposed to be. And my room, the place where I was supposed to be safe, absorbed some of the essence, since that's where I went after the mage tried to probe."
"Hang on," Arthur said. "After the mage probed you… Every evening after our shift at the café, you would go to your room." He rounded on Feliciano. "I know that you can't tell us who the mage is, but answer me this: Is it someone at the café?"
Feliciano hesitated for a moment before he nodded. There was a flash of something in his eyes, but Lukas couldn't identify what it was. But he didn't feel concern about it, so he decided to let it slide.
"The essence is trying to reconnect with me, since it was with me since before I was even born," Vlad continued. He lifted his bruised wrist. "Unfortunately, it's still a malevolent entity, so it's dangerous."
"Then we should try to exorcise it," Arthur said. "And hopefully…"
"It's been ingrained in me for too long. If we try to get rid of it, it's going to kill me. If I stay human, it's going to kill me. It was part of what created the vampire race, but it's not strong enough to just make me a vampire."
"W-what if we add the protection spells?" Feliciano stammered. "It should help, right?"
"No. That essence is the thing that destroyed the protection spells, and there's no way to cast enough of them before it starts to destroy the rest of them."
"So, what are we supposed to do?" Arthur whispered.
For the first time since they arrived, Vlad curled up into himself, hugging his knees. His breathing hitched and he bit his lip while blinking rapidly.
"If I stay a human, I die," he whispered. "If the essence stays, I die. If it goes, I die. And if I become a vampire… I can survive. But what's going to happen then? Do I become the heir? Do I become a tool? Do I… do I lose myself?"
Lukas looked over towards Feliciano, who looked as though he was in pain. His eyes were on Vlad, but it was clear that his thoughts were all over the place. Whether they were mating or not, Feliciano cared about Vlad, and he wouldn't want anything to happen to him.
"It's an exchange of blood, isn't it?" Arthur asked, his voice raspy. "To become a vampire?"
"Normally," Vlad said. "But at this point… I just need a vampire to bite me. And I start a new vampiric bloodline."
"No," Feliciano said. "I can't. Don't…"
"We don't want to see Vlad die," Arthur said. "None of us do. And you've shown that vampires don't have to be evil creatures."
"But what does Vlad want?" Lukas asked.
All eyes went to the Romanian, who closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't know."