by Arantes
The Xs started punching Albedo and he wasn’t blocking many of them. He ducked but not low enough, he leaped but not high enough. He was very weak and desperately needed blood. An X punched him and its hand grazed his head. While he was ducking the punch he executed a quick jab to the X, but it wasn’t very effective. The X grabbed his hand and threw him down the hill to the river’s edge. Albedo knew even without the Elder, he could’ve easily defeated this guy, but the Elder had left him feeble. He had failed to comprehend that he needed blood. Even during his training on his own he hadn’t drunk blood. All the Xs jumped on him at the same time. The power of the Elder could not help. He thought about using fire, but it was too late and his fire wasn’t even that strong without the help of the Elder anyway. They grabbed his hands and pinned him to the ground. Two started kicking him on his ribs, his head and neck. Albedo started coughing up blood. He felt an adrenalin rush as the forces of the hits connected with his ribs. Not even the training gear he was wearing was strong enough to withstand this amount of hits. He was actually lucky he was wearing it; it had managed to reduce the pain for him a bit. Albedo felt his limbs going numb as his heart started to beat faster. He felt as if he could sense each individual cell and blood vessel bruising within him. He saw the masked face of his attackers as though he was viewing it through a telescope; sensations he had never felt before. Not even Gregory could inflect this much pain. Compared to a Pureblood, Gregory and his gangs were mere children. There were at least fifteen on him now, moving was not an option. Albedo tried hard to escape but he was now piled under them. Albedo looked up at the red moon, suffocating and crushed, and the sight of the red moon started to diminish and fade from view as they pummeled on top of him one by one.
The light started disappearing and he closed his eyes. He wondered if this was the end for him. He had only been a Black Reaper for a few hours. If this was the end then he was ready to accept it. He thought about the good he did today, saving Natalia. His parents, he regretted never really talking to them about what’s going on. As he was thinking, he heard two people talking and he wondered if it was his imagination. He felt a chill, was this death? Maybe they stabbed him. His feet were getting colder. As he breathed he could see his breath, it was uncommon for it to be cold this time of year. Soon Albedo felt a shock wave. What was strong enough to cause this powerful shock? The ground trembled a little. He felt someone grab the back of his robe and pull him out of the pile of Xs. He was still weak and a bit woozy. Albedo looked at the pile of Xs, but it was only a pile of ice now. He wondered if that shock wave he felt earlier had killed them.
“You alright?” he felt someone slapping his face to bring him back to consciousness. Albedo’s vision was still a bit blurry, but he could see the young man tugging at him. There were two of them. One looked at the other and said, “Hey Dante. You used too
much of your ability, you almost killed him.”
Dante leaned in close to Albedo. He put his hand on his forehead and Albedo’s body started to thaw. The thin layer of frost on Albedo started to disappear.
Dante gave his friend a look. “Of course not, I avoided freezing his heart and his brain. If I wanted to kill him like the others it would have been easy.”
When Albedo’s vision came back fully he could see the little girl a couple feet from Dante alive but still petrified. He slowly regained consciousness. He observed the one that was smacking him trying to bring him out of his weakness. He was Dante, he had short white hair, and his eyes were crystal blue. He had good stature and a blue crystal necklace around his neck. Albedo looked at the other one, he was about his age, a bit taller. He had silver ponytailed hair, silver eyes and dark skin. He had the body other men would kill for, his muscles had muscles, and he looked strong.
“Thanks for your help, who… who are you guys?” said Albedo as he trembled from the cold.
“We were sent here by King Victor a couple days ago, he told us about you. His orders were to watch you, if you needed our help at some point only then could we intervene,” said Dante.
Axil gave him a look: Dante didn’t really have to tell Albedo the whole truth.
“I guess you can say we are the same, just like Sonia is your master, her partner
Angelione is ours,” said Dante.
The remaining X’s were coming. Axil cracked his knuckles.
Albedo said to Dante, “Should we help?”
The Xs all jumped on Axil like they did Albedo. Axil was much more physically strong than Albedo.
“That’s a good question, I wonder if I should help him or not?” said Dante with a careless attitude. His friend was in trouble and he was debating to help or not.
Albedo wanted to help but couldn’t, he didn’t have any more energy. One by one Axil killed all the Xs, his strength was dynamic. Now Albedo understood why Dante had not helped his friend, he would probably just get in the way. Axil’s body looked as if he had the strength of a thousand men combined.
“My name is Dante,” he introduced himself finally, “And this is Axil.”
Axil looked at Albedo but did not say a word.
“My name is Albedo.”
Dante looked at the frightened girl and asked, “Hey Axil you want to do the honors?”
Axil already knew what he meant; he wanted him to bring the little girl home. As Axil reached his hand to pick her up, she screamed for help. He was annoyed with her screaming and poked her neck with his two fingers. She fell asleep. “What?” said Axil while Dante and Albedo stared at him?
“She’s just a little girl. You didn’t have to put her to sleep you know,” said Dante.
Axil put her up his shoulder, he jumped up over the hill and left.
“Where is he taking her?” asked Albedo. “The Humans’ Special Division. She’s in no condition to tell us where she lives. It’s a good thing you got here in time, who knows she might have gotten bit,” replied Dante.
Albedo felt joy; he had done many good things tonight.
“And don’t worry about the humans who were bitten. They won’t be turning into vampires or die anytime soon,” said Dante.
Albedo had not even thought about the victims he had read on the report.
“I used my ability to save them just in time, all of them. Now my only worry is if there’s more of those X’s,” said Dante.
“I can find out,” said Albedo.
Dante‘s curiosity grew. “Oh really now, how?”
Albedo closed his eyes, searching throughout east Inferno. A little bit of his energy had come back. He could feel Axil running with the little girl on his back, Dante in front of him. Jarvis must have turned his senses off, he can’t sense him. Albedo stopped using the Elder as he felt his head hurting him. “I think it’s safe to say they’re gone, I don’t sense any more of them.”
Dante started to wonder, Sense? Does he have the Elder? It’s only when you pass a thousand years you can have it, not to mention you have to be a strong Pureblood.
Dante explained to Albedo how he saved the victims with his ability, about the effect of a bite from. It was good for him, a new bit of knowledge he has just acquire. Dante put his hands in his pocket and left. He told Albedo they would meet again.
Chapter 12
The Crimson Flames
Sonia and Angelione were back from their mission. King Victor was on his throne waiting for their report. He looked more serious than ever, which only made Magi more nervous around him. The King sat there with his eyes closed, thinking. He was glad his Reapers were back safe and sound. He opened his eyes from the sound of Magi’s clumsiness. A few minutes passed and the Reapers walked in, he felt a sigh of relief they both were still alive.
Magi left the room to give the three of them privacy; her heart had been uneasy all morning. She was worried about Sonia, wondering when she would return. Since Sonia’s been gone she had been extra clumsy. She woke up this morning with much excitement when she heard Sonia was safe. She cleaned her face and went to the market
to buy the freshest ingredients. She had brought lots of green herbs and whole pork, which Sonia loved seasoned and roasted to perfection. Fresh apples for sweet apple pie specially made for Sonia. It must be nice for her to be Sonia’s personal servant, which made the other girls jealous. She went back to the castle, started the fire and seasoned the pork just the way Sonia liked it. As she slowly rotated the pig, mouth stuffed with the apple for sweetness, the pig’s color caramelizing. The table was set perfectly, an extra table that was filled with sweets, lots and lots of sweets! Magi went to put the finishing touches on Sonia’s room, a little extra swish, swipe, and wipe. She made sure the room was immaculate. She finished just in the nick of time as Sonia entered the throne room.
Magi walked by Sonia and gave her a smile. Sonia simply nodded her head. Angelione of course looked emotionless as ever. Magi wondered what happened on the mission. But of course she knew asking was forbidden. She left the room and closed the door quietly.
“I’m glad the two of you are back safe and sound,” said King Victor with happiness in his voice. But he was a King and that meant his emotion had to be kept under control. The King is the last man a kingdom would want to see lose his cool. But at this moment he did not care about showing them that they meant a lot to him. To the King those two were more than his Reapers.
“I still think we were being set up by King Henry,” said Sonia with an attitude. She wasted no time digging into the food, leaving Angelione to explain to the King what happened. Magi did an outstanding job with roasting the pork. She had to remember to thank her.
“So he really does have the white flames, just as Dragan once told me,” said King Victor.
Angelione fixed the falling glasses on his face, they been riding nonstop. His body was about ninety percent healed up, feeling much better. Angelione voice was shaky as he was explaining what had occurred.
“My lord, who is this Dawson that Aleister was speaking of?” asked Sonia. “He could have killed me twice but he stopped, it was as if someone took over his mind.” she trembled a bit; the fear she felt for him was still there.
The King hesitated, he didn’t want to answer Sonia “…I’m increasing security throughout our borders,” leaving Sonia’s question unanswered. The King said, “We ourselves had a bit of problems here, a tribe of menacing Purebloods by the name of Xs entered Inferno and bit five humans.”
“Do you want us to go at once!” asked Angelione.
Sonia thought about Vincent.
“No it was already taken care of; you can thank your pupils.”
Sonia put down her fork and looked at Angelione in shock. They thought about Dante and Axil. Even Albedo helped, explained the king. The king had taken a risky move by leaving the job to the three rookies, but it had paid off. He was the one who had the note sent to Albedo.
Sonia started to think about Albedo, how much she missed him. She thought about him while she was on the mission to defeat Aleister. She remembered that Aleister had mentioned Dawson twice, and that Albedo had a dream about a Dawson screaming about white flame. She wondered if there was a connection, but shook her head in disbelief, thinking it had to be impossible. Should she tell the king? She thought. She left the room and said she wasn’t feeling well, she wanted answers and she knew the king was keeping something from her.
“Did something happen with the high council?” asked Angelione.
“It’s Absolute; he’s the one who ordered the meeting. He’s been a pain for as long as I can remember. We all know what would happened if I die. Absolute’s family name is second in line for the throne since I don’t have any heir.”
Angelione raised his head, “I would give up my life before I see you dead my lord! If Absolute is planning something then give me the mask!” The mask is their code word for an assassination, only the Black Reapers knew what that meant.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” said the king with a laugh. “Let Absolute do as he pleases for now. Angelione you’ve forgotten that I am the king; in my hand I hold the power of the Elder. If Absolute wants the throne, he’s going to have to take it from me.”
Angelione could feel why the man was king, he had no fear in his eyes, and he was the most powerful Pureblood in this kingdom. Who else could stand to his might, not even Angelione or Sonia could defeat the king in a duel. Angelione thought happily, that’s what I want to hear from my king! The only one I can think of who matches his power is Dragon and Cecelia, my masters, the two legendaries! Angelione knew his king was strong, he always did find strength in him.
“I want to speak to you about Dante and Axil’s advancement; do you think their ready for a mission? They’ve proven to me they can handle themselves, even Albedo,” the king proclaimed.
Angelione said nothing for a moment. “They are strong, but I don’t feel that they’re yet ready.”
***
Sonia was walking on the gigantic bridge that connected the city to the castle. The bridge was wide enough to carry the carriages. It also had separate sections for the people to stroll. Underneath the bridge you could see where the water met the dam. The dam was built a couple hundred years ago to bring more aesthetics to the kingdom. It took at least ten years to build. On each side of the castle there was a waterfall leading to the canal flowing the water from the river beyond of the castle walls. She heard the rough waters splashing and looked at the water’s deep whirlpool within the dam and wondered if anyone could be saved after a fall. The Kingdom’s people were not allowed to walk on the bridge without permission, it was simply too dangerous. Sonia hears the carriage coming her way and she moved out of the way quickly.
The guy guiding the carriage shouted at her, “Move out of the way, young lady, coming through!”
She had forgotten this was a passage way for Victor’s army to move from the city to the castle, also to bring in goods and weapons inside the castle. Farther behind her she saw a different carriage trying to go inside the castle. The gate was closed and the man driving the carriage gave his name and paper to be allowed to enter. Sonia snapped back to reality and was trying to figure out why Aleister could not kill her. She was happy to be alive, but the whole thing felt perplexing. “That name… Dawson, I know I’ve heard it before from Albedo, but why?” As Sonia tried to remember the name, she suddenly came to realize something, “Its Albedo, Aleister is after Albedo!”
***
Albedo was home feeling lonely. Only Sonia could fill the emptiness in his heart. He was in love with her, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to tell her. Today he had ate as much as he could to try and bring his energy back, but it didn’t really matter how much he ate. The food gave him some of his energy back, but that day when he drunk Sonia’s blood he felt a different source of energy. Thanks to the blood his energy level had elevated. He did still hate the idea of drinking blood, but he had to admit, it tasted magnificent! As he lay his head down on his bed, something felt wrong. He heard the voice calling once more, “Dawson, it’s time to awaken.” He could hear it loud and clear like the time with the bear. He suddenly sensed a dark presence, stronger than he had ever felt. His head began to hurt.
“This dark power, it’s so strong!” said Albedo. The power was calling to him, as if guiding him where he needed to go. He quickly left his house to go find it. This time it was different, it wasn’t a dream, he could hear the voice loud and clear calling him out as Dawson. This presence was coming from the same place where he first saved Sonia, the abandon castle. He made his way inside, but the presence was gone now, it had vanished. The power of the Elder had activated by itself, was this normal? Was it all just another dream? His heart started to beat again. This time it was a different beating, not the one he felt when around Sonia, but an evil demonic one. The dark presence was back. Albedo closed his eyes, his body felt like they were on fire. Something in the air was making it hard to breathe, as if the air was dry and all its moisture had been consumed. He looked back to see that a man appeared behind him; Albedo stared
into his blue and red eyes.
“I found you at last, Dawson!”
Albedo touched his face to make sure this was real and not another nightmare. It’s him, the one in my dreams.
“I should have found you sooner, but your power was asleep, making it hard to track you.”
“Who are you?” asked Albedo in bafflement. He was now staring into the eyes of the demon with the red and blue eyes from his nightmares.
“Aleister, my name is Aleister.”
Aleister dragged his voice out, to Albedo it sounded as he was speaking in slow motion. His name rang in Albedo’s ear, he felt as if he had met this man once before. Albedo stared at Aleister’s long white hair, the evil in his eyes, his blue and red eye.
Aleister had his hand on his chin. “It appears as though you have lost your true strength and your memories. It doesn’t matter, we can get it back.”
“What are you talking about? What memories?”
“Come with me and find out,” he extended his hand towards Albedo. This was the same deal that Vincent had offered him. “Now Albedo let’s go and take our rightful place in this world!”
Albedo had no idea what Aleister was talking about. “You’re the one who sent Vincent after me aren’t you? Sorry, but I’m not going anywhere with you. If it’s a fight that you want, then you will get one.”
