by Arantes
“Alright, remember how I told you every living thing has their own energy? Well, there’s something else you need to know. Each living thing has its own individual energy that distinguishes it from something else. Like today, I sensed someone strong coming. I knew it was you because I have memorized your energy pattern.” Jarvis started to demonstrate for Albedo. He closed his eyes and the cat started to move. Jarvis pointed out each movements of the cat. “Now he’s licking himself!” laughed out Jarvis.
Albedo joined in laughter as well.
“Yesterday I taught you how to open your energy flow, unblocking whatever your mind was going through. Now I’m going to teach you how to control the power of the Elder! Enabling you to feel the movement of your enemy; this power serves as a third eye.”
Finally, what I’ve been waiting for.
“This will be your training for today. I’ll release the cat into the market, and you have to find it. Sounds pretty easy doesn’t it? Only, you will do it while blindfolded.
What part of that was fun? Thought Albedo. He hated the market. “Sounds like a challenge,” he said with less enthusiasm.
They made it to the market and today was going to be a busy day. Albedo watched so many feet move through the market. The voices of the shoppers and the merchants as the children scurried and the animals fled from stand to stand was very sensational, pulling all of Albedo’s attention. You could hear and see so much busyness. The traffic of the market was overwhelming. This one was going to be challenging. A couple feet in front of him was a lady chopping meat and selling it to the people. Flies swarmed around the meat. He looked at the meat and started to drool at the sight of the dripping blood. Albedo only had blood once but he could still feel a strong thirst for it. He quickly caught himself and thought about losing his focus. His thirst pointed him back to the lady chopping the meat in the market. He remembered her from before. His mother sent him to buy meat from her. She owns a house outside of the market and her husband was a member of the Humans’ Special Division. She was a pleasant lady; she gave him extra meat when needed for his mother’s meal.
Jarvis snapped his fingers at Albedo. “Come on, young lad. Wake up. It’s time to train.” He released the cat into the market. “Don’t worry lad, I will be right behind you, and try not to bump into anybody. They don’t like that.”
Albedo thought Jarvis was a cruel man. He put on his blindfold and started the search. As he walked, he started to bump into people. They did not like that at all. Albedo could faintly sense and feel the energy around him. Slow and steady he was feeling it. “Watch it young man. You should look where you’re going.” The traffic of the market was not what Albedo was used to; there were people left and right. They complained that he was bumping into them, but he felt as though he was being pushed around like a doll. He was bumped and shoved from one side of the market to the next backwards and forwards. Focusing on the Elder while moving and not using his sight was harder than he thought; he could barely keep his balance in this crowd. Jarvis urged him to focus and be still, stand his ground.
As he tried to focus on finding the cat, he realized it was more difficult than he’d imagined. Everyone around him had energy, making it even harder to concentrate! It was hard, not to mention the magnitude of the noise, people shouting for a better deal. Jarvis, following behind Albedo, was having a laugh out of his misery.
“I know your back there laughing at me old man. You could give me some tips you know.”
“Relax young lad. I’ve taught you all you need to know. You have to close your eyes and ears just focus. Right now this training is teaching you to focus, but in a real battle you won’t be able to close your eyes and focus on the power. It would have to come automatically with the instinct to fight. You have to learn how to use the Elder with your eyes opened, letting in all distractions and fight at the same time,” said Jarvis.
Albedo stopped for a minute and started to concentrate. “I’ve got it!” he said. He walked slowly, put his hand on something; it felt nice and soft, like a pillow. “Got you!” When he removed the blindfold, his hands were on a velvety skirt coating the butt of an attractive young lady. She was about a bit taller than him. She was not happy about him touching her. “It’s not what it looks like,” he said quickly.
“You pervert!” said the lady, standing a couple inches over Albedo.
Jarvis started to laugh and said, “I didn’t mean to focus that hard!”
She slapped Albedo and left a mark on his face. The merchants and the townsmen caught wind of Albedo’s disturbance and one by one the ganged up on him. The mob was pointing and shouting. Albedo and Jarvis knew now that training may need to be postponed for a second to run. The people began chasing him and Jarvis.
“This is all your fault old man! You’re trying to get me killed!”
Jarvis was still laughing as he ran behind him. They had made sure the people had a great distance between them.
“Ready to give up now?” he asked.
Albedo was not going to give up, and Jarvis knew it. “Remember, not being able to do something is all in your mind.”
“Wait here,” said Albedo with much confidence. He started to run back to the market. The people chased him again. This time he was more focused. He dodged a man who tried to catch him. His eyes were still blindfolded; but this time he was more determined. His sensing was becoming more accurate. He felt the cat’s energy running behind a lady. He ran after it. This cat was fast. Albedo honed in on his power, silencing the sounds around him. His mind was cutting through the thick crowd, zooming dead on to the cat’s energy. He could see the cat’s energy trailing through the market. The cat fled through crawl spaces and hopped onto a roof. Albedo jumped to the roof after it. Albedo was swift and agile, but unaware. Since his eyes were closed he didn’t notice the hole in the roof as he plummeted on his butt. His sensing could sense energy but apparently it doesn’t cover holes and objects. Albedo removed the blindfold, thankful no one was home in the house of the roof he just fell into. He quickly proceeded to the chase of the cat. He jumped back to the roof getting a clear visual view and the sense of the cat’s energy using the power of the Elder. He put the blindfold back on and said, “Let’s try this again!” He continued pursuing the cat. The cat was now on the ground. Albedo jumped down behind the cat and it ran up onto the tent of a rice stand. The cat clawed a hole into the tent and fell through. When the cat fell into the rice, Albedo grabbed after the cat and also wasted a lot of rice.
The rice merchant yelled,” Hey! Stop! What are you doing, you’re wasting my rice!”
Albedo apologized and tossed some gold at the rice merchant, “Sorry mister!” Albedo was faster than the cat. He caught up to the cat while it was in mid pounce and pinned the cat down with one hand. At last, the cat was captured. He quickly ran back to Jarvis.
“Impressive, young man. Now let’s move on to the next bit of training,” said Jarvis.
He took Albedo to an empty field. There the wind outside felt great. It was almost the same feeling with the cherry blossoms. Jarvis told Albedo not to go back to the market for a few more days, at least until things cool down.
“This will be our last training session, Albedo. I taught you how to control your energy, but there is one last thing.” He had a marble in his left hand. “I want you to try and take this marble from my hand, with your eyes wide open. I want to adopt the power of the Elder and use it without blocking the rest of your senses in order to solely concentrate on it. If you can do that, you pass.” I can’t believe how far he has progress, just like his father. I gave him the basis of the Elder and his ability, the rest he will have to develop on his own.
What Albedo failed to realize is that he had passed Jarvis’ training. Jarvis taught him how to free his mind from his nightmares, which was blocking his energy flow, stopping him to use his ability and power. Now Jarvis was testing his physical ability.
Albedo charged at Jarvis. However, Jarvis was faster than he l
ooked. He may be old, but his body was in top shape. Albedo continued to try and take the marble from him, but Jarvis continued to dodge his attempts.
What do you know? Even with that heavy training gear he’s wearing, he’s faster than I thought.
“Hey old man, I have a question. I can use anything you said right? Even my ability?” asked Albedo.
“That’s right, young lad, anything.”
Albedo smiled and started to focus. “Fire!”
He aims for Jarvis; but the old man read each of his moves. He expected Albedo to release it towards him. But instead, he had the fire in his hand still. He ran towards Jarvis. What is he up to? thought Jarvis. Instead of releasing the fire at Jarvis, he created a massive light that blinded the old man. When did he learn that? Jarvis was caught off guard. His eyesight was gone for a couple seconds. Albedo quickly reached for the marble, but Jarvis did not need his eyes to see, he jumped away just in time. Thanks to the power of the Elder, he could sense Albedo.
“That was a nice move young lad, I must admit. You surprised m---.” Before Jarvis could finish, Albedo attacked again. Jarvis was an excellent fighter. As the fight continued, Jarvis noticed Albedo was getting faster and stronger; the power of the Elder was increasing his speed. Albedo tricked the old man again with his light, but this time he was faster as he grabbed the marble from him.
“I see my training paid off,” said the old man.
Albedo bowed his head to his worthy opponent. “Thank you, Master Jarvis for your teachings.”
Jarvis was pleased, “It was nothing, and I should be thanking you. I don’t remember the last time I had this good of a workout. Remember what you learned, young lad.” Jarvis was happy with their progress. As he looked at Albedo with pride, he thought, what do you know? He might be as strong as his father one day.
Albedo’s power and ability were maturing. He could now control the power of the Elder enough to use it in the midst of great distraction as well as control the fire ability. Albedo was not only able to control the direction and heat of the flame but the intensity of the bright beam of white light to a blinding capacity.
Chapter 11
A New Reaper is born!
Sonia was not back from her mission. Albedo was impatiently waiting for her to return. He was done with his training with Jarvis. It had been a couple days since he’d completed everything. Albedo was sitting at the breakfast table, playing with his food. His father sat across from him, reading the morning paper.
“So, how was work today father?” he asked, trying to break the silence in the room.
His dad bent the paper back. “It was fine,” he replied casually.
Albedo noticed how his father’s scar stretched with the movement of his face when he talked. He had asked his father once where he got that scar from. He remembered his father telling him he was training a new person joining the Humans’ Special Division. The boy had a spear that carved into his father’s face by accident. His mother washed the dishes pretending she didn’t hear what they were talking about. She knew he wouldn’t go into detail about work. His father was the kind of man who did not like to talk about his work. Albedo excuse himself after finishing eating as he made his way to his room. All throughout the day the town’s people have been whispering about an incident that occurred late last night. This morning Albedo had gone to the market to buy his mom some bread. As he walked he could hear two men guards talking in secretive.
“Did you hear? The Humans’ Special Division spotted a man with a red mask on his face
late last night? They say the mask had an X on it.”
The other guard said, “Maybe it was one of the Black Reapers.”
The talking continued, “At first they thought it was one of the Black Reapers until he
attacked one of the guards. So far four people were found bitten. They’re calling this mysterious man X.”
The first person that crept into Albedo’s mind was Vincent. But it was impossible, he was being held in the Furness. Albedo had never been to the Furness, but he had heard rumors that its one of the most secure prisons in Nacune.
Albedo stood in his room with anger on his face. His eyes fixed looking outside his window. I’m not a human anymore! I’m a Pureblood, but what can I do? If I go out and help then people will know who I am.
After a few minutes of pondering in frustration, Albedo lay on his bed and heard a knock on his window. Sonia! When he looked at the window he found a black bird instead. A bird? Albedo opened the window and the bird flew in as if it lived there. It flew onto Albedo’s bed. Albedo was getting ready to wave the bird away from his bed when he noticed there was a letter attached to its neck. The bird wasn’t even startled when Albedo came closer to it. “What have you got there little fellow?” Albedo took out the letter. As fast as the bird came, it flew out just as fast. When he opened the letter it seemed to be a report. On the top it read “Confidential” With the seal of the Humans Special Division on it. Albedo started to read.
“A group of vampires who call themselves the tribe of Xs entered Inferno late last night. Be on your guard and be cautious. These men that we are trying to apprehend are believed to be Purebloods. The King has sent out two of his warriors to assist us in this crisis. We first believed it was Vincent, but news was sent back to us that he was still in the Furness locked away---”
He hated Vincent for what he almost did to Sonia. He continued on reading.
“---Three humans have been found with bite marks so far. We must keep this news to a minimum, no one else must know but us.”
At the bottom of the report was the signature of Lou.
Albedo was appalled. “The King has probably sent some of his men to help, so I guess there’s no need for me to go?”
The thought to go and help rushed through his head…he quickly grabbed the box Sonia had given him.
***
Just a few hours after the tribe of X penetrated the city, Dante and Axil, standing in the corridor of Inferno, reached victim number five. In front of them lay a girl that just been bitten. The bite mark was deep in this one, still fresh. She was about the age of nine, wearing an old blue dress. Her eyes looked as if they were rolling back inside her head; her skin became pale and cold. She was breathing heavily.
“It was a good idea for the king to send us here. I thought I was going to train for the rest of my life,” said Dante. He walked towards the girl with two hands in his pockets. He looked careless. The girl was in pain and Dante looked a little annoyed. He sighed, “Another one.” How many more do I have to save? We need to catch this X guy and put an end to all this.
Axil stood on the other side with his arms crossed. He looked and stared at the red moon. “You might want to hurry before it’s too late.” He was concerned about the girl, if too much time passed then the girl might actually die.
“Calm down, Axil,” he said in a relax tone. “She was bitten by a Pureblood not a vampire. I can tell by the deep mark. If she was bitten by a vampire then she would have died instantly. But by one of us, a Pureblood, she has two options. She could either turn into a vampire or die.”
The girl looked scared when she heard Dante say she might die.
Dante stared at the fresh womb on her neck with admiration. He has never bitten anyone before, all his life he lived on the rain-blood. He wondered what humans’ taste like, even vampires’ blood. From the whiff of her blood it smelled good as it kissed Dante’s nose. “I was thinking about something, Axil. What if… we kill her, drink her blood. I’ve never tasted human blood before, and I’m sure you haven’t.”
Axil gave him a look of disbelief as he stared into Dante’s grim face. “Dante, stop playing around and hurry.”
“Think about it, Axil. Don’t you ever wonder what flesh blood taste like?”
“Stop playing around Dante,” said Axil with an adamant look now.
Dante started to laugh, “You should have seen your face! I know I have a sick sense of humor and I’
m working on it,” he said with a smile.
Of course Axil knew he was kidding. They had sworn an oath to protect the innocents alongside Sonia and Angelione.
Dante stretched his hands out to the little girl and placed his palm on her bite mark.
“Can you save this one in time?” asked Axil.
Dante looked back at him with approval. “I saved the last four didn’t I, so yes I think I can manage.”
Axil looked around to make sure no one showed up. The last thing he wanted was to be blamed for the bite mark on this humans’ neck. As tempting as biting a human was, the blood-rain was enough to satisfy his thirst. “It’s good to know you’re a healer.”
“My healing ability is not as good as the other healers King Victor has, but it’s enough to save them just in time.”
They were glad to have found the victims in time, a couple more hours and they would have surely turned into vampires or died. The girl felt the chill on her neck as Dante’s hand touched her. She started to shiver. Dante felt her temperature dropping rapidly. He needed to hurry; his ability might kill her if he uses it too much on her. He removed his hand from her neck and the girl saw his vicious fangs coming out, which startled her. It reminded her of what just happened, the pain she felt when a fang pierced her neck. The girl started to scream. Dante placed his left hand over her mouth and she slowly fainted.
“It will be easier this way,” said Dante. He cradled the girl and placed his fangs on her neck. Slowly he started to extract the blood out of her system. He spat out a mouthful of blood and it tasted rotten. Her blood was mixed with whoever had bitten her, giving it a nasty taste.
Axil looked relieved now. “It’s a good thing a Purebloods’ blood moves slowly in the humans’ body. If too much time had passed then the blood would have surely reached her heart. And by then it would have been too late.”
