by Arantes
“C’mon Albedo, let me show you the bathroom,” said Sonia.
He walked in the bathroom and was instantly amazed. Sonia had to explain to him that they don’t wash their face in buckets like they do in Inferno. She explained to him how the bathroom sink works, how to turn the water on and even flushing the toilet. While Sonia was talking he played with the sink by turning it on and off. He had hot water and cold water, which he wasn’t used to having a choice before. His room and bathroom and even the hallway had one of those light bulbs she spoke off, he wondered when he would see it light up. Sonia told him it wasn’t time yet, at nighttime that’s when the electricity comes on. He walked back into his room to see Sonia laying there with her eyes closed as she enjoyed being home.
“Come with me Albedo, I want to show you something.”
Sonia took him into the lower level of the castle. There Albedo saw a big metal looking thing with a string attached to it. It was so big it almost covered the room.
“Hey Oliver, you here?!” shouted Sonia.
A man appeared on top of the giant metal. “Hey, Sonia!” He waved at her “Coming down now.” Oliver jumped from up top and landed on his feet, he greeted Sonia and introduced himself to Albedo. He had some sort of metal thing in his hand; it appeared to have two metal fingers. He had broad shoulder and strong arms.
“Albedo Oliver, Oliver Albedo,” she gave a quick introduction.
Albedo looked at the big metal with astonishment and said, “What is that?”
“That is what we call a generator. This is what provides powers to this kingdom,” explained Oliver.
“It provides us electricity Albedo. With electricity we can light up the city and this castle at night times when it gets dark,” said Sonia.
“And that thing in your hand?”
“Oh this little thing, it’s a tool, it’s called a wrench. I use it to make sure everything is tight and in order with the generator or anything else that needs to be fixed.”
“How does it all work?”
“How about I show you, come with me.”
Albedo and Sonia followed Oliver inside the power room and explained that the generator was made up of the strongest metal in this world, titanium, even stronger than steel. Something that’s stronger than steel, Albedo was learning so much.
Oliver opened a door that led inside and started to explain to Albedo. “The force from the water whirlpool underneath the bridge creates energy when it grinds with each other and with these wires that are made from titanium, they absorb that energy and the generator turns it into electricity. Because titanium has a way of absorbing energy really fast. That ….equals your beloved lit light bulbs.” Ding! Oliver flips the switch to show Albedo the glow from the bulb.
Albedo looked amazed as the light bulb brightens the room. He asked Sonia eagerly, “Well, if the titanium is so strong then why doesn’t King Victor use it for his weapons
and armors?”
“Albedo, titanium is a little too strong, it is not malleable, and it can’t be bent and molded into appropriate fighting gear and weaponry.”
Albedo was still curious. “Well how did they create the generator and mold the titanium to be used for the light bulbs?”
“Only the Blue Crimson Flame is hot enough to melt it, this generator was a gift given to us a long time ago from the king of Alvichi, after we helped deliver them from the wrath of the Society.”
Albedo wondered what was this Society Sonia was speaking of. She explained that they were a group of crime syndicates. He thought they must be very strong if they can bring down one of the Six High Kingdoms.
“It’s getting dark outside, it’s time to power up the generator. You wouldn’t want to miss this Albedo,” said Oliver.
“Miss what?” he answered.
“All the lighting, now come on. And Oliver don’t start it yet,” said Sonia.
“Sure thing Sonia, the sun is about to set so go get ready,” said Oliver.
Albedo wanted to know what in the world they were talking about. Sonia took him on top of the castle, there; he stood on top of the roof with a smile on his face looking down at the capital. It was getting darker as the sun slowly disappeared. Albedo stretched both of his arms and yelled, “This is amazing!” There he could see the bridge and the whirlpool, which look remarkable when you’re looking at it from up top. It truly is a force of water circling around each other in massive force, making loud noises. The two waterfalls on each side of the castle fell correspondingly with each other. It’s peaceful and quiet here, just like the cheery blossoms.
Sonia noticed how happy he was and was glad she brought him up here. “This is my favorite place to get away; up here no one bothers you. And look, a perfect view of the moon. It’s not as beautiful as your favorite place, the cherry blossoms.” Sonia had brought a basket of food with her.
“No Sonia it’s as beautiful.” He lay on the roof feeling the air touching his face.
A beautiful woman was sitting next to him and he gets to do one of his favorite hobbies, eating. “This is my definition of perfect,” said Albedo with a smile.
They watched the sun go down and ate as much they could.
“YES! The sun is gone and it’s finally dark,” said Sonia. “Don’t blink Albedo, the best part is coming. Get up now!”
Albedo quickly put down the fork and got up with Sonia, they stood on the edge of the roof and Sonia was impatiently waiting…. Then, out of the blue, the city and the castle lit up and Sonia screamed in joy. Albedo didn’t know how to react as all the lights hit his eyes. It took him a few seconds for them to adjust to this magnificent scenery before he realized how beautiful it was. He started screaming, “Yeah this is beautiful!” alongside Sonia. The bridge had at least one hundred bulbs lighting it. The city! The city was mind-blowing and breathtaking to look at. Each house had its own light that brightened itself. There were lights in the street to show you the way at night in the midst of darkness. Albedo thought about Inferno and how different it was at nighttime. No amount of candles can ever illuminate this much radiance Albedo was witnessing. He wondered how big the capital was. What kind of market they had? What kind of food they ate? He wanted to know everything.
“Albedo follow me, I have to show you something else.” From the edge of the roof Sonia jumped down to a balcony, there she jumped on the ground and headed for the bridge.
At first Albedo was kind of scared, jumping down high was something he was going to have to get used too. Sonia hollered at him to hurry and c’mon. He jumped down and landed on his feet and followed Sonia to the bridge. He ran after Sonia but soon realized she was pretty fast. As he passed by the bridge he could hear the roaring of the water. They made it to the other side of the bridge and Sonia told Albedo to close his eyes. They turned back around facing the castle now and he opened his eyes to see the castle lit up with lights. Now this was scenery he had to embed in his mind, simply magnificent.
Albedo’s eyes were getting weary now, he had seen a lot today and he needed time to absorb it all. Sonia took him back to his room and as soon as she opened the door he laid his head on the bed. He thanked Sonia for sharing this with him and she told him that she was just returning the favor.
Albedo was now asleep and Sonia chuckled. “I fed him and showed him the lights and after that he went straight to bed, what a guy.” She closed the door and said goodnight to him softly as not to wake him up and she herself made her way to her bed.
Chapter 17
A day with Sonia!
Albedo woke up to the sound of someone banging on his door. Last night he had went to bed without even bothering to cover himself with the sheets. He got up and yawned as he opened the door to find Sonia on the other side smiling. She told him to hurry and wash up because they have a long day ahead of them. Albedo used the sink and washed his face, which was much different than doing it with a bucket. He showered and put on the extra pair of clothes he had. When he came back to his room Sonia sat there
and told him he took too long. She was a morning person, and he wasn’t at all. Back home he would stay up late and wake up late, thus the reason he was always late for school. Albedo blanked his eyes open trying to awaken and saw Sonia sitting at the edge of the bed giving him the eye to hurry up. She was wearing knee high black leather boots, black leggings and a black flowing satin dress. Her long dark hair was wrapped tightly in a bun secured with a hairpin. She told Albedo they were going shopping for clothes from Dante’s request.
Dante had told her, “The guy still dresses like a human; he’s one of us now. So can you please, I’m begging you, do me a favor and go buy him some clothes.” These were Dante’s exact words if she remembers correctly. Humans dress differently from vampires and Purebloods. Humans dressed as if they had nowhere to go, as Dante would put it, and vampires and Purebloods dressed more elegantly.
A woman knocked on Albedo’s room and Sonia permitted her to enter. Magi walked in. Draped over her arm were black pants and a black shirt for Albedo. She seemed like a nice girl, thought Albedo. She looked awkwardly shy and couldn’t look at Albedo’s face for more than five seconds without looking at the floor.
“Magi, this is Albedo, Albedo, this is Magi,” said Sonia who finally introduced them.
“It’s nice meeting you Magi,” said Albedo.
She replied with shyness, “It’s nice meeting you too, master Albedo.”
Master Albedo! It felt great to be called Master Albedo. He took the clothes from her and changed into them. When he showed them to Sonia she gave him her approval. He looked like a young prince dressed in black. Sonia told him Magi would be joining them today. He was kind of disappointed; he wanted to spend the day with Sonia alone. They went to the horse stables and there Sonia and Magi got on their horses. Albedo seemed nervous, when asked he told Sonia he had never rode a horse before. He had seen them throughout Inferno but never got on one before. Now he wishes he had gone on that field trip his school was having. Ms. Marty had taken the classroom to see horses and to teach them how to ride one, but he had chosen to skip that day.
Sonia told him this was something he would eventually have to learn to be a Black Reaper. She gave Albedo a hand and guided him up on her horse and sat behind her. He wrapped his hands around her waist and thought maybe it wasn’t a bad idea after all not going to that field trip. They rode passed the gate and headed for the market, which was on the other side of town. He heard the sound of the whirlpool, which was louder if you were standing at the edge of the bridge looking down on it. They rode around the city and saw guards in uniform guiding people on horses when to move. Sonia told him they were crossing guards. This was a way to keep traffic flowing nice and safe.
They made it to the market and it was the biggest market Albedo had ever seen. Instead of merchants selling in the street they had their own private space inside huge buildings that were designed especially for them. The market had the structural makings of an enclosure but was not fully enclosed. The front passageway was open for patrons and a pathway ran through the middle dividing the shops on either side. The speed and density of the patrons far surpassed that of Inferno; it was unparalleled to anything Albedo had seen before. Now he knows what Dante was talking about. A man came and took the horses from Sonia and Magi. Sonia told Albedo horses weren’t allowed beyond this point and that they would get it back when they were done. The first thing Albedo noticed was that Sonia was gone while he was looking at the market. He asked Magi where she had disappeared to and she pointed towards a merchant that was selling sweets. Figured she would. Magi explained to him that she eats a lot of sweets. They went over to her.
“Ms. Sonia, I haven’t seen you in a week or so! My number one customer,” said the merchant. She was a big lady who looked as if she loves sweets as much as Sonia. Her hair was wrapped around her head secured on the side with a hairpin. She was wearing a long robe. In front of her were cookies, cakes, pies, and different types of candies and sweets Albedo had never heard of before.
“Silvia it’s been too long! You know my usual so fill her up,” said Sonia.
Silvia noticed Albedo, “Who is this handsome young man you brought with you.”
This of course made Albedo blush.
“He’s my pupil.”
“He sure is handsome. May I ask for your name young man?”
“It’s Albedo, ma’am, pleasure meeting you,” said Albedo with his handsome smile.
“No the pleasure is all mind young man. Here have some sweets, it’s on the house.”
Albedo thanked her and ate some. They were all delicious, maybe now he can understand why Sonia loved them so much. But he couldn’t see himself eating it all day and all night the way Magi explained it to him. They left the bakery and already Magi had two large grocery bags of sweets in her arms.
So much for buying clothes, thought Albedo. They walked by a biggest blacksmith store and Albedo noticed all the swords and daggers inside.
“Angelione!” said Sonia as she waved at him. They went inside and Albedo looked around as he followed her. Angelione was sitting inside the store reading his book as always. “The Black Dagger”
“Sonia, it’s you,” he looked as sarcastic as ever.
“What are you doing here?”
He explained to her he needed to get his sword fixed. After fighting against Aleister, his sword had taken a lot of damages. This was the best blacksmith in town and Angelione had been coming here for years.
Albedo started to hear a knocking and banging noise coming from the back of the store. He has never seen a sword being forged before; Sonia thought this was a good learning process. She took him to the back and she greeted Benny, the blacksmith. The room was hot, and Benny was soaking wet from sweating. Benny explained to him how the process worked, he explained to him that the temperature has to be to a certain degree or the metal won’t melt properly. Angelione’s sword, still soft from the intense heat, lay on a slab of stone while it was being compressed to even out the repairs, and Benny put the finishing touches on it by running it across the sharpening belt at lightning speed.
“Here you are, here’s your sword back, and please be careful this time. I have to repair it after every mission you go on,” said Benny in a chastising manner.
They left Angelione and at last went to the clothing store. Albedo looked at the different variety they had. The tailor took Albedo’s size and started customizing his clothes. He wanted to know if they were going to pay for all the clothes, but Sonia told him the king would pay for all their bills. An unlimited supply of gold, thought Albedo. Sonia wasted no time shopping for more clothes for herself. Albedo watched her running around the store trying on different dresses. At first he thought it was fun seeing her in different dresses. But then he realized he could no longer keep up with her, so many outfits to try on. She went from boots to skirts to jackets and hats. She found one hat in particular that tickled her fancy. It was sharp. Cold black suede with leather trim, it fit her just right low on her face but right above her eyes and snug around the back of her bun in her hair sitting perfectly upon it. It went so well with her ensemble that when she bought it she didn’t even bag it up; she wore it straight out of the market.
“Wait...I’ll take the hat. I’m going to wear it now.”
Albedo’s stomach started growling and he realized how hungry he was. Sonia told him if he needed something to eat then to go find a local restaurant and do so. When she started buying clothes it’s as if she was a different person. Magi handed Albedo a golden certificate with the king’s signature and told him to present it to the restaurant owner and the bills will be taken care of. He walked outside and instantly noticed a restaurant up the street. He walked in and he smelled the foods being cooked. Fish, chicken, beef. He saw a man drinking soup and all sorts of different types of dishes. The restaurant was fairly sizable with huge double entrance doors. There were chairs and table all around. He walked to the front and sat on a stool.
“What can
I do for you young man,” said a man with a paper in his hand waiting to take his order.
“Hmm, I---can I see a menu please,” said Albedo nervously.
The man was nice and said he would give him a couple minutes. Albedo looked at the menu and almost everything was dipped in blood, blood-rain of course. He debated with himself if he should buy the chicken or the beef. The man came back at last and Albedo noticed his name from his tag, John.
“So have we come to a decision young man?”
“Yes I have. I think I’ll have the---.”
Before Albedo could finish a man sat next to him and said, “Give him the duck with extra blood, one for me too.”
Albedo looked at the huge muscle man sitting next to him. He was at least twice Albedo’s height, broad at the shoulders, his hands and arms were wide and muscular, and his voice was baritone.
The man looked at Albedo and said, “Trust me kid, its good,” with his baritone voice.
“I’m guessing it’s the local’s favorite huh?”
“So I was told. I myself had never tasted it before, it was recommended to me.”
“Anything with blood should be good,” said Albedo. He was slowly now liking blood more and more.
“The name is Strong Arm kid, pleasure meeting you,” he extended his large hands to Albedo.
Albedo looked at him in curiosity. “Name’s Albedo, nice meeting you too,” Albedo noticed his bag and said, “are you from around here mister?”
