by Arantes
“You see, Drake. I can freeze my heart and still be alive. When my left arm is like this it becomes stronger and more firm.” He laughed and said casually, “And besides, Axil and I had to endure much tougher training than this fight, stopping our hearts is not enough to kill us.”
Drake was dumfounded, Dante was probably one of the only Purebloods who could stop his ability. Dante came closer to him now and put a hand on his neck. “What are you doing to me?!” His body began to freeze. “You can’t do this to me, do you know who I am!?” Dante’s ice covered his body from head to toe, freezing him alive.
“Now time to finish this,” Axil used his fist to finish him off, scattering his body into pieces.
“Took you long enough to wake up.” Dante looked at Axil. “You weren’t sleeping on me now, were you?”
“It looks like our plan work after all. I figured out he can still use his ability if he touches you. It was thanks to that lady he tried to kill, he had thought no one had noticed,” said Axil. Since his so arrogant and cocky, our plan was to let him think he had the upper hand. Their plan had worked, Axil also knew Drake would not kill him; he was the only one who knew where Angelione and Sonia was heading with Albedo.
Dante’s left arm returned back to normal. “I can’t freeze my left arm and my heart for too long, a minute and a half is my limit.”
“Come on lets go, the others are waiting for us.”
***
The queen wasn’t too pleased when a guard took her to the bridge to find Drake’s body had been shattered into pieces. She looked furious. As much as she dislikes her own son, it brought pain to her heart to see him like this. They never had a mother-son relationship; in reality she treated him just like one of her warriors. To her he was easily replaceable. But there was something about him being dead that daunted her. She paced back and forth with a slight frown on her face.
“Who could have done this? Was it Aleister?” asked the queen.
The guards had no answer, they had no idea what had happened.
“It was them wasn’t it; The Black Reapers had done this?”
This was surely a declaration of war. She ordered her men to guard the roads and search the city. Frustrated with no answers she went back to her throne. When the queen got there, there was something not quite right. There was someone sitting on her throne. The man had a mask on his face with the symbol X on it.
“I’m sorry for your lost my queen, my condolences,” said the man with the mask.
“Were you the one who killed my son?!” She didn’t even care about the fact that he sat on her throne; she only wanted to know where the Black Reapers were.
The man removed his mask, and the queen recognized Dmitri’s face. He was always around Aleister, wanted also. Before the queen could get angry and start attacking him he said.
“No, I can ensure you that I had nothing to do with your son’s death.” He said it in the most pleasant way he could. “But maybe I can help you your majesty. I have some news that could be handy to you and the other Kings.”
The queen was now curious. “Oh really now?” If his news did not please her, then there would be bloodshed. She walked closer to Dmitri and placed her sword across his throat. “For all I know, you and Aleister did this. Speak, and be careful of the next word that comes out of your mouth.”
Dmitri explained to her how he no longer worked for Aleister, how he had learnt a great secret.
The queen now looked puzzled and exited at the same time. “I know of their incident seventy years ago, but I had no idea their early awakening had awakened any but one, the one they call Aleister.” If she killed Aleister, then her Kingdom could prosper once again.
“The one they called Albedo was the second.”
The queen was now putting the puzzle together; it would make sense. She removed the sword from his throat. “It appears you’re telling the truth.”
“Well of course your holiness, they say that you have the ability to read lies from truth,” said Dmitri.
The queen looked at her adviser and said, “Send immediate word to the other kings!” Now she was looking at her general, “Ready my horses and all my men. We’re going after Albedo. If we can’t get to Aleister, then Albedo will do.”
***
Aleister struggled to walk properly as he made his way to the back of the house. He was breathing hard, his body had lost too much blood, his bones were broken, and he had stab wounds from that fool Dmitri. The houses in this town looked as if they had been caught in a blaze of fire. Some of them looked brand new, they must have rebuilt them. He remembered that fire; it had nearly destroyed this damn town. If it wasn’t for him then these people would have been dead by now. He had no intention of trying to become a hero, his killer-lust was thirsty and he needed to feed it. That day he had killed Johnny and his brother, virtually saved this damn town. Now he needed help, and he felt discontented asking for it. This wasn’t like him at all, Aleister asking or seeking help was not something he does often, at all actually. He had saved these people and it was time for them to pay him back. He tried to walk the three stairs to try and knock on the door, but he was simply too weak to do so. He had managed to get to the first step, but he was so weak that he stumbled and descended at the trash cans, making loud noises.
Aleister just lay there. O how the mighty Aleister has fallen. He smiled. Damn you Dmitri, I have known of your betrayal for years, maybe I should have killed you when I had the chance to. He closed his eyes, he was drained and his body ached. I had gone inside of your mind Dmitri, there I saw your devious contrive against me. Unlike Vincent you cannot be loyal. Vincent, I wonder how he’s doing in the Furness. Finding Dawson for me was the first part of my plan, getting you caught was the second part. I sent you there instead of Dmitri because you are the only one who can do this task for me. Aleister was no longer able to think now, he felt a small headache; he needed lots of blood. He started seeing blurry now, and felt the hunger in his stomach as it made loud noises. Before he passed out, he could hear the door of the house being opened. He could see someone trying to wake him up, dimly, and then he was gone as he closed his eyes.
***
Angelione arrived at Battle Arena, the place where he’d first met Axil. The coliseum was old now, abandoned after Angelione was given permission by the queen, and Victor to close it down. He and Sonia had been riding their horses for an hour now.
“This is a Battle Arena huh? Is this the last one or are there more?” asked Sonia.
“Even though we closed this one down, they will always find new ways and places to resurrect. This place is where assassins, murderers, and thieves used to come and make gold.”
“Poor Axil, I can’t imagine living in a place like this as a child.”
They walked inside the place, and sat down at the entrance.
***
Albedo slowly woke up to find his head lying on Sonia’s lap. He closed his eyes from being so exhausted.
_ Dawson! Dawson leave now or they will find you! The queen is on her way. Dmitri’s clones has been following your friends, they will lead her right to you _
Albedo started moving around as he started to wake up.
“Albedo it’s alright, we’re here now, nothing will happen to you.”
He opened his eyes from hearing Sonia’s voice. She took out her flask of blood and told him to drink it.
Almost an hour passed by and Albedo could faintly see Angelione grabbed his sword and told them to be cautious. They could now hear footsteps approaching them. Angelione stood in the passageway with his sword, ready to strike. As the footsteps were getting closer, he told Sonia if worst comes to worst take Albedo and run. Angelione was ready for the queen; he could use his lightning to catch her off guard to kill her. He put down his sword and his right arm began to steam.
***
Dante and Axil walked in the passageway to find master Angelione with steam coming out of his right hand. They had heard Angelione tell them
about his lightning ability, but never once had they seen it.
“Master Angelione, it’s us!”
Angelione never lost faith in their abilities; he had faith to the end.
“It’s good to see you boys still alive!” said Sonia who was tending to Albedo. She was relieved to see they were alright,
They walked over to Sonia and Albedo and asked how he was doing.
“He’s doing much better now.”
It was hard for Dante to see his friend the way he was, he wished he could do something to help.
***
A couple hours passed by and Albedo finally woke up. He was doing much better now; some of his strength had come back to him. Using the Reawakening drained his energy, but thanks to the blood he drank, it brought back some of it back. Everyone was asleep. He made his way quietly to the coliseum; inside was Aleister sitting on a bench waiting for him. He approached him, and sat on the bench below to him. Aleister’s body was fully healed, so was Albedo. Their power had allowed them to heal even faster than Dante’s or Ethan’s ability. Instant regeneration was nothing compare to a healer’s ability.
Albedo stared at the red moon, Aleister too; it was beautiful to look at. It was still early dawn. The temperature was just right with a mild wind. The fog was gone.
“Now do you understand? This power cannot be controlled by love. It cannot be controlled by a good heart. It’s the very foundation of our legacy, it holds the strongest killer-lust imaginable. It’s the greatest power a Pureblood can acquire; this was the power that raised us to the throne.”
Albedo had nothing he wanted to say, he only wanted to gaze at the moon. How peaceful and calm it was, just like he used to be. “I don’t want your help Aleister. I’ll find my own way of controlling it.”
Aleister sneered, “You were always so mulish.” And with that, his body turned to white ashes, and he was gone.
“Who are you talking to?” Albedo looked down to see Sonia; she’d woken up and heard his voice. “You’re supposed to be asleep, resting your body after what happened.” She worried about him.
“I’m alright now, most of the pain is gone,” he smiled. He was back to his old self. She sat next to him. “Sonia, it’s true isn’t it? I’m one of them, I’m a monster,” he said with a hateful tone and teary voice.
She gently placed her hand on his shoulder, and looked him in the eye, “No, you’re you Albedo. Whatever happened in the past, I’m still your… friend. Angelione, Dante, Axil, Natalia, your parents, Jarvis and King Victor, we will always see you as you, not Dawson. We see you and nothing else.” She placed her head on his shoulder; she could stay with him for eternity.
She always knew what to say to make his troubles go away. He had not fully remembered Angelione’s decision to not kill him. All he remembered was Angelione with a sword; everything else was a blur.
Albedo looked to see Dante and Axil as they came closer and sat next to them.
Dante said, “It’s true isn’t it Albedo, you’re one of the Kings of Awakening?”
Axil and Dante wanted him to know they were aware of the truth and they accepted him. He thought it was good that they knew. He saw his friends had not looked at him differently. He saw they were not afraid of him, knowing what he was and still was capable of. He saw he had true friends he could count on when times were rough. He gazed at the sky for a moment, how his life had changed so rapidly.
“It doesn’t matter to us Albedo,” said Axil.
“Thank you,” said Albedo quietly.
“This is it, isn’t it Axil? The place you had to fight to survive,” asked Dante.
The place brought back memories for Axil. This was the place he had to fight to survive as a child. Axil remembered when the audience used to cheer his name. “Yes, this is the place, where no man could stand against me. This was the place where murderers ran free; this was the place men killed for glory.” Axil felt more connected to Albedo than the others. But unlike Albedo, he didn’t have to remember his past. He was envious of Albedo; he wished he too could forget the past.
They could only imagine the pain Axil had to go through. They sat in silence for a wild.
A few minutes passed by and they could hear Angelione talking while coming from the entrance.
“We have to get moving, it’s not safe here anymore.” He tried to avoid looking at Albedo as much as he could, after what happened. A war was now inevitable. This was the worst news Angelione wanted his king to hear.
Albedo now sense something ominous approaching, it was the queen. He could sense her now, he wondered what changed. “She’s coming!”
Sonia wondered who found them.
“It’s the queen.” Albedo was now using his Elder; from it he could sense the queen and some of her men. “She must have been following Axil and Dante.” He also felt something different from her. “I think… she possesses the Elder.” Did she have her senses off when he had tried to sense her when he first met her? That would explain him not being able to sense anything from her before.
“You knew she possessed the Elder and now you’re telling us that?” said Angelione angrily.
“I had no clue until now. Her senses are like mine. It’s on and off at the same time.”
“We have to go now!” said Angelione.
Too late, they could hear footstep outside the arena, by now her men had surrounded them.
“She found us so quickly, we have to find a way to get out of here!” said Sonia.
Angelione grabbed his sword. “Listen to me! I will kill the queen, the rest of you find a way to get out of here! I will hold them as much as I can!”
None of them were willing to leave Angelione behind. He was determined to make them to leave, but they all refused.
The queen arrived at the entrance and made her way inside with her men. Next to her was a man wearing a red mask with the symbol X on it.
It’s him, one of the Xs. Albedo had remembered from them entering Inferno.
The man with the red mask took it off and had a smile on his face. “All of my enemies are in one place, except for one that is.”
Angelione and Sonia looked at each other. “Dmitri? I thought you were working for Aleister.”
“Aleister, Aleister. I have no loyalty to anyone but myself. How long I’ve I wanted to kill him? But it doesn’t matter, because I will kill the second Kings of Awakening, you Albedo.”
“I see you haven’t learned from our last encounter,” said Albedo.
“So he was the one,” said Sonia. “Just like Samuel you have the ability to multiply.”
“So, you betrayed Aleister and now you’re a puppet of the Queen,” said Angelione.
“How can you betray something you were never loyal to?”
“Why did you bite the humans? What are you after?” asked Dante. He had remembered the humans he had examined. Their bite marks were different; Dmitri was after more than blood.
“I find their blood tasty and refreshing,” said Dmitri. You fool; the humans’ blood will make me invincible.
The queen said, “Albedo, who could have guessed that you’re one of Kings of Awakening? I will do what other Kings could not do. I will end your cycle and bring an end to you!” She saw a weakness no other King had ever seen, this was her chance to do what others could not.
“If you kill us, you will bring war to your land, you know of that. Do you really think you can defeat a High King?” said Sonia.
The queen was not worried; she knew the other Kings would aid her in battle. She started to laugh, “You already had sent a declaration of war by killing my son. By now the other Kings know of this secret, when they know about Victor’s deception, hiding a King of Awakening from us, his Kingdom will fall and mine will rise once again!”
Angelione saw an opening to attack her; if he jumps fast enough he could reach her, if lucky he could take her head. He looked around a second time, too many warriors, his team would not survive.
“Kill all of them no
w!”
Her men attacked, hundreds of them, against Angelione and his small team. As strong as they were, the number of the men was overwhelming for them. Men were coming from left to right. Albedo’s emotion started to get the better of him, he saw his friends were being overpowered by this many warriors. His eyes started to glow again… he was transforming again.
“Albedo, fight it!” yelled Sonia.
***
Before Albedo could fully transform, Aleister appeared in front of him. He placed his hand on his forehead and said, “Shattered!” The transformation stopped, and Albedo was now unconscious once again. Aleister looked at Sonia and said, “Hey girl.”
Sonia looked at him.
“Take him back with you. I will handle the queen and her men, Dmitri as well.”
Sonia didn’t like the idea of taking help from Aleister, but what choice did they have? Even so where would they go? They were surrounded.
“Follow me, there’s an underground tunnel we can use that leads out of the city,” said Axil. As much as he hated this place, it was good to know he still remembered the hidden passage.
“I don’t like this idea of him helping us, but I suppose we have no choice,” said Angelione.
“Aleister, you’ve shown yourself at last,” said Dmitri.
Aleister placed his right hand in Dmitri’s direction, and flame came out, killing Dmitri. Another one of his clones huh, coward.
Angelione and his team made their way to the tunnel; the passage way was located underneath one of the seats.
“I won’t let you get away!” shouted the queen. Her men followed after them in the tunnel, but Aleister quickly disposed of them. His eyes glowing of light, Aleister had transformed to his full power.
