Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 30

Vlad was reading one of the Kirklands' books while fiddling with the amulet. Bridget and Alistair had left a while ago, but not before Bridget contacted Raj and Toris and asked them to come to this address. Vlad felt a little guilty about asking this of the two, especially since they weren't that close, but they had to at least try.

Feliciano had explained how the process worked. Basically, it worked the same way as a blood vow from humans. The two parties needed to slice their palms and press them against each other while the vampire leader promises protection and the other promised to be loyal. Vlad, Arthur and Lukas had done so earlier, and while Vlad's cut had healed already, Lukas and Arthur had to get their cuts tended to, even though they were careful not to cut too deep.

Vlad looked up when Arthur entered the room again, staring at his hand. Vlad's nostrils flared and he looked away. The scent of blood made his throat burn.

"I think the cut is healing faster," Arthur said.

"It's possible," Feliciano said. "You came into contact with vampire blood. It has healing properties, but it's rare to use vampire blood for that."

"Not a lot of vampires willing to heal humans, right?" Vlad asked.

"That, and using saliva is more convenient. When we feed, we usually need to keep a low profile. If we don't kill our prey, then we use our saliva to seal the wounds. Most of the time, they just end up thinking that they have pimples."

Vlad swirled the saliva in his mouth before he swallowed. Arthur's presence wasn't helping matters.

"…We need to get some blood in you," Feliciano said. "I'm surprised you're still in control of yourself."

"Would it help if I donate some of mine?" Arthur asked.

"You don't have to do that," Vlad said. "I'll be fine."

"No, you won't," Feliciano said. "Newborn vampires are experiencing a lot of new sensations, and it's only a matter of time before they drive you crazy. A vampire's senses also grow stronger the hungrier they are. It's supposed to help you find prey. And if you don't feed, the hunger is going to turn you feral, and you will end up hurting Arthur or Lukas. Do you want that?"

Vlad flinched, before he shook his head. No, that was the opposite of what he wanted. He turned back to Arthur, and the scent of blood washed over him again. His throat burned again, and he nodded his head.

"Fine," he said. "Feli, can you help me? I don't want to take too much."

Feliciano nodded. Arthur moved closer and displayed his wrist. Vlad's mouth watered when he saw the vein, and he swallowed.

"Just take it slowly," Feliciano said. "I'll tell you when you can stop. First, do you feel your teeth growing longer?"

Vlad instinctively tried to feel with his tongue, but then he realised that there was a cold sensation on his upper jaw, and when his tongue reached his left incisor, it was longer than he was used to.

"It's cold," Vlad said.

"That's good," Feliciano said. "If it's cold, then it means that you're feeling it. When you retract it, it's going to be warm. Don't look for it with your tongue. You might end up impaling your tongue if you try to look for it."

Vlad remained quiet about him doing just that.

"Try to bite the vein," Feliciano said. "It's going to hurt if you don't get it just right."

Feliciano took hold of Arthur's wrist, and Vlad could see his housemate tensing at the contact, but he didn't pull away. Feliciano brought the wrist closer to Vlad's mouth. He swallowed, before he sank his teeth into Arthur's skin.

The taste was different than expected. As a human, blood tasted metallic, but there was nothing like that now. It tasted somewhere between a fine wine and a rich coffee. Vlad took a few gulps as the blood rushed down his throat.

"Okay," Feliciano said. "That's enough. Lick the wounds."

Vlad pulled away, and he licked the wounds. He was a bit disappointed that he had to stop so soon, but when he saw Feliciano's beaming face, he decided that it was worth it.

"Good job," Feliciano said. "You stopped when I told you to. Not a lot of newborns can manage something like that."

"Well, Vlad isn't a normal newborn, is he?" Arthur asked, before he examined his wrist.

"I think you should eat something now. You just lost blood. I don't think it's enough to put you in danger, but it might be enough to make you weaker."

Arthur was silent for a moment before he nodded.

"Agreed," he said. "I'll also make myself some tea. Extra sugar."

Just as Arthur moved to go to the kitchen, Lukas arrived, carrying a tray. Arthur stopped, and Lukas placed the tray on the table. It was laden with small snacks.

"I figured we could use something like this," Lukas said.

"I was just on my way to get something," Arthur said, taking a celery stick and swiping it through the dip. "Thank you."

"I can't eat that, can I?" Vlad asked, turning to Feliciano.

"Human food is too risky," Feliciano said. "It's enough to make us sick. But we're mostly fine with drinks, as long as we don't drink too much. Like, a glass of wine a day isn't a problem, but if we drink an entire bottle, it makes us sick."

"That's similar to humans, then," Arthur said.

"Except it has nothing to do with the alcohol, but the fact that it's not meant for us to consume. The same thing would happen with the same amount of water, or tea, or… anything else, really."

"But I can drink one cup of tea, right?" Vlad asked.

"Normally, but tonight, it's not a good idea. We can handle a bit of human drinks, but it makes us hungrier for blood a lot faster."

Vlad pouted, and Arthur ducked into the kitchen. Vlad straightened when he heard a car stop in front of the house, followed by a scent that made him recoil. Feliciano turned to Vlad and nodded.

"Non-vampires and non-mortals smell repulsive to us," Feliciano said. "They're not prey, so they wouldn't smell great. And the more repulsive they smell, the more dangerous they are." Feliciano sniffed the air. "And this one is pretty dangerous. Are you sure?"

Vlad nodded. The person approaching the door was either Raj or Toris, and Vlad hoped that the both of them would be willing to hear them out and give their support. He took a breath, belatedly realising that it wasn't really necessary, and he stood. He went to the door and opened it to find Raj on the other side.

Raj blinked and took a step back, before he smiled at Vlad. The smile seemed a bit uneasy.

"Your friend Arthur told me that you're unwell, and that… well…" Raj said. "You… look better?"

Vlad sighed and moved aside.

"Why don't you come inside?" Vlad asked. "We're waiting for one other person, and then I'll explain everything."

Raj stared at him for a moment before he entered the house. Vlad guided him to the living room, where Raj abruptly stopped, his eyes fixed on Feliciano.

"Is that your sire?" Raj asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Vlad said. "But he is my mate."

Raj stared at Feliciano for a moment before he sighed, his shoulders relaxing.

"At the very least, he doesn't seem to be a threat," Raj said. He turned to Vlad. "I knew you were pretty open-minded, but this…"

"We kind of had no choice," Vlad said. "I was dying, and the only way to stop that was to become a vampire."

"And are you sure that it was the only way?"

"I had some spiritual assistance in that. So, da, I'm pretty sure."

Raj raised an eyebrow, and Arthur chose that moment to arrive with another tray, this one with a tea set. Any residual tension that Raj had disappeared as soon as he saw Arthur. Of course, knowing that they had the Kirklands' approval might have helped.

"This must be an interesting story, then," Raj said. "Who is the other person we're waiting for?"

"A werewolf in one of my classes," Vlad said. His eyes widened. "Oh no! My classes! What am I going to do now? I can't just drop out, and it's going to be hard to get to my classes."

"Is now really the time to be focusing on your studies?" Arthur asked.

"I think it's a good thing to focus on," Lukas said. "Something to distract us from the other problems. And it's a fair point. You're a scholarship student, right? What's going to happen if you can't go to class? Would you have to pay them back for wasting their money?"

"I don't like the way you said that," Vlad said.

"I don't think it would be too much of a problem," Raj said. "I'm sure you wouldn't be the first nocturnal student. Perhaps the Kirkland family would be able to offer you a solution. If arrangements had to be made, I'm sure that they would be the ones that made them."

"He has a point," Arthur said. "My mother didn't say anything, but we could ask her later. For now, your lecturers believe you to still be sick. You can make up a diagnosis, and I'm sure that you can change your status to distance student."

Vlad blinked at Arthur.

"You seem to know a lot about this," he said.

"I was just thinking of possible solutions," Arthur said. "We have bigger problems to consider at the moment, so it would be better if you're not distracted."

Raj was fixing himself some tea, and he took a sip while keeping his eye on Vlad.

"This sounds like a really interesting story," Raj said. "How long do we have to wait for that werewolf?"

As though on cue, another car stopped in front of the driveway. Vlad went over to open the door, and he tried to shake off the scent. For this to work, he would need to get accustomed to Raj and Toris's scents.

Toris's reaction when Vlad opened the door was identical to Raj's, and Vlad had to reassure Toris that everything would be fine. Toris looked even more hesitant than Raj, but he entered the house. He didn't quite relax, but after seeing everyone gathered in the living room, his confusion overwhelmed his apprehension.

"I'm glad you both could come," Vlad said. "So, you've obviously noticed that I'm a vampire now."

"It's a bit hard to miss," Toris said, though his mouth twitched in amusement.

"Arthur and Lukas told you about the protection spells being undone, which made me sick because there was some demonic influence. It was killing me, and I couldn't stay human. The influence was from the kind of demon that caused vampirism in the first place, and I needed to become a vampire, since I was already fairly close to that."

"And you just so happened to have a vampire around that could transform you," Raj said, eyes flickering to Feliciano.

"Feliciano only needed to drink from me. The other steps of the transformation were kind of already present, just out of order, which was why it was killing me."

"The transformation was pretty quick," Feliciano said. "It only took about a minute or two. Usually, it would take anywhere between one or three days."

"But that brings us to the issue at hand," Arthur said. "When Vlad turned, he wasn't part of Feliciano's coven, and became his own coven. And Feliciano, by virtue of drinking his blood, became a part of the coven as well. And the local vampire patriarch may take issue with that."

"He'd see you as infringing on his territory," Toris said. "And with you taking a member of his own…"

"And that's why you called us, isn't it?" Raj asked. "You anticipate conflict, and you're hoping that if you have some reinforcements, it wouldn't come to that."

"We're a coven with only two vampires," Vlad said. "There's a way to get other species to be part of the coven too. We already added Lukas and Arthur, and now we have a coven with two vampires and two mages."

"And my grandpa has a coven of about a dozen," Feliciano said.

Raj took another sip of his tea.

"It sounds like you may be in trouble," he said. "And you want us to help you. The thing is, what's in it for us? You're asking us to risk our lives to help you against one of the more dangerous creatures."

"I know we haven't known each other for long, and it's asking for a lot," Vlad said, "but we don't have another choice. They were already interested in me before this. The leader isn't going to be happy about this. And I don't think that he's going to be satisfied with killing us."

"No," Feliciano said. "He's going to do things that are much, much worse."

"And you're asking us to expose ourselves to that possibility," Raj said.

"This morning, you asked me about a prophecy," Toris said, turning to Lukas. "Does this have anything to do with that?"

"We found the original version," Vlad said. "It's vague enough that it could go any way. But there are a few different versions. And Feliciano's grandpa heard one of the more extreme versions, it would seem. Basically, I'm descended from the last vampire king, and any of my ancestors could have taken over, if they'd been turned. Now, I'm the most qualified."

"Which would explain why you didn't become part of another vampire's coven. And why he would come after you."

"We think he might have been hoping to confirm whether Vlad qualifies, and then he would have turned him to use him," Arthur said. "He would have had control. But now, that's not an option."

"And another reason why he would be angry and attack you," Raj said. "And you just introduced stakes for us as well. I don't know about… you know, I never caught your name."

It took them all a moment to realise that Raj was speaking to Toris. The latter blinked before he composed himself.

"Sorry," he said, plastering a weak smile on his face. "I'm Toris."

"Raj," Raj introduced. "So, as I was saying: I don't know about Toris here, but I've had my fair share of encounters with the vampire coven. They push a lot of the others around, and they have no problem bullying or killing those they deem 'beneath them'." Feliciano flinched, confirming that there was truth in Raj's words. "Now, 'vampire king' sounds important and powerful, and I don't want to know what it would mean if someone like that was on the side of Romulus Vargas."

"Rivers of blood," Toris whispered.

"That sounds about right. Which means it's in our best interest to be on Vlad's side, and hope for the best."

Vlad felt himself relaxing. It sounded as though Raj and Toris were on board. This went better than expected. It was fortunate that Raj realised how dangerous Romulus and his coven were.

He hissed in pain as his head started to ache. All eyes turned to him, but he was a bit distracted.

Vlad!

The voice in his head sounded like Gupta, just like earlier, except Gupta sounded weaker, and there was more urgency in his voice, as much as a telepathic voice could have urgency.

"Are you okay?" Feliciano asked, placing his hand on Vlad's shoulder.

Vlad could have said that he was fine. He could have dismissed the voice in his head as nothing. But Gupta had tried to warn him earlier. It would be disrespectful to ignore him.

"Sorry," Vlad said. "I just need a moment."

He fled to the kitchen, and he hoped that the others wouldn't follow. He leaned against the counter and closed his eyes as another attempt was made to call him.

Gupta?

Yes! You should know that Romulus is planning to attack you. He's gathering the rest of the coven.

…Why are you telling me this? Aren't you supposed to be spying on me? Weren't you supposed to keep quiet about your position? And Feliciano didn't tell me until about an hour ago about you, so how would you know that I know?

I noticed the change in Arthur and Lukas's body language and assumed that Feliciano told you.

Vlad grunted. Perhaps Feliciano told them, but that wasn't all that he needed to know.

You didn't tell me why you're telling me this. And why you're using telepathy.

My phone is in my car. Romulus drained me and locked me in the sun room. I got a bit of Francis's blood, but just enough so that he could interrogate me again. Feliciano turned you, and somehow, you became your own coven. Romulus isn't happy about that.

Gupta was confirming their fears. And it sounded as though they were going to have to deal with this soon.

But what was in it for Gupta?

You keep avoiding the question. Why are you telling me this?

There was silence from the other side. Vlad could sense that the connection was weakening, and it felt as though it was from Gupta's side. He tried to strengthen the connection, unwilling to allow Gupta to avoid answering the question again.

It is difficult to be a mage, surrounded by mundane humans. You are isolated, and you are constantly in fear of their fear. And when I was human, it was worse. My life was in danger, no matter where I went. Romulus saved me from that, and I was grateful to him. But he has used and exploited me for far too long, and he punishes me for not handling delicate situations quickly enough, no matter how much I try to explain how dangerous it is. And I realised that it would be better to throw my lot in with a fellow mage. I want to be a part of your coven.