Pride x Familiar

by Albert Ruckholdt

  Xanthia’s eyes narrowed. “You’re confident you can hunt them down?”

  Again Marianne shrugged lightly. “Confident? Yes, since we’re fairly certain of where to look for them.”

  I could sense Xanthia’s unease with Marianne’s response.

  I was certain the other women could as well.

  Xanthia asked, “When will you leave?”

  “Tonight. Paloma is fueled, loaded and ready. My daughter is eager to head out.”

  I frowned inwardly.

  Her daughter, Shizuka Sandoval Sanreal – a Familiar who Awakened five years ago and demonstrated an innate talent for piloting.

  I had files on her, but she was a difficult girl to pin down. Not as troublesome as Fallon Acacia, but troublesome nonetheless.

  I felt the stage had suddenly grown wider. It stretched beyond the confines of Pharos. New actors and actresses were stepping into their roles, yet I had no idea how the next arc would play out.

  That brought a troubling thought to mind.

  I swallowed and asked cautiously, “Now that the Ravana has been recovered, have the Seeress’s said anything new?”

  Xanthia faced me. “Nothing. Not a word.”

  I looked at the women standing before me. “No word from any of them? No change in their predictions at all?”

  Some of the Primatriarchs traded uncomfortable looks.

  I hid my uneasiness. “Then what do we do now?”

  Xanthia folded her arms under her breasts. “We wait and see. Let’s see how well Serenity can tame that young man.”

  I frowned inwardly, yet remained outwardly calm. “She’s not that kind of woman.”

  “No, but all men are ruled by their passions. Serenity is not without her charms.”

  I bit back a retort.

  How could this woman even suggest such a thing?

  To speak of my younger cousin in that manner was most displeasing.

  However, Xanthia wasn’t looking at me anymore. She was looking through me and into the distance. “Interesting times lie ahead.” She frowned down at me. “However, I’m a little concerned by your daughter’s meddlesome behavior.”

  “Which of my daughters?” I asked guardedly.

  “Simone Alucard Raynar. It appears she’s quite enamored with him. Something of a childhood crush that’s blossomed into love.”

  I felt my innards tighten.

  Damn this woman for peering into everything.

  I swallowed discretely. “Is that a problem, Primatriarch?”

  Xanthia looked uncertain.

  No, she looked distinctly troubled.

  She inhaled deeply and then said, “I’m curious. I wonder if we could influence a different pairing.”

  “What?”

  She smiled, showing me her perfect teeth. “Well, what if we introduced someone new into the mix?” She narrowed her eyes. “After all, we’re not certain who inherited Lisanna Ekaterine Alleyne’s bloodline. We’re still trying to determine if the Alucards or Ventiss families share in her descendants. There could be others out there that we don’t know of.”

  I stood up slowly. “Lady Primatriarch, I’m not following you.”

  “Oh, in what way?”

  “I was of the understanding we wanted to avoid the outcome the Seeress’s have been envisioning.”

  “Unfortunately they’ve been less than clear on how to go about that.” Xanthia planted her hands on her gentle hour glass hips. “So, why don’t we try provoking a little reaction from them.”

  I couldn’t believe what this woman was saying or thinking. “You wish to influence their visions.”

  “Of course. I wish to see if it’s possible to alter the course of the river of fate.”

  I swallowed noticeably this time. “How?”

  Xanthia took a deep breath. “By introducing a new character onto the stage.”

  I was almost afraid to ask but did so nonetheless. “Who?”

  “Someone guaranteed to bring a little conflict into the play.”

  #

  (Serenity)

  Clad in black armor-skin, the guardsmen escorted me down the steps and corridors leading to the containment cell. The squad of six men dwarfed me. Ordinarily I would have felt safe in their presence, but on this occasion, I had trouble hiding my fear.

  After a long walk, and after passing through a half dozen security checkpoints, and a half dozen quatre-steel reinforced doors, I finally arrived at my destination.

  A sparsely furnished cell block.

  It wasn’t all that small, around five by four meters in dimension with a ten foot high ceiling.

  But there was no confusing it for anything other than what it was.

  A cell with transparent walls and ceiling, offering no privacy from the multitude of surveillance holocams aimed at its interior.

  The guardsmen, my personal bodyguards, fanned out around me with heavy rifles carried in their arms.

  I nodded at Paulson, their commander. “A little space if you please.”

  He didn’t question me.

  In mere moments they had repositioned themselves in a crescent a few feet behind me.

  I approached the transparent cell wall before me.

  The light was constantly on.

  I saw that he had fashioned a blindfold out of a torn bed sheet.

  He lay on the bunk bed, arms neatly folded over his chest.

  His voice came through clearly through the hidden speakers.

  “What do you want?”

  He knew I was there without even looking at me. He didn’t even raise his head.

  “More tests?” he asked. I heard him laugh softly. “No, that can’t be it. You’re not from this place, are you?”

  I cleared my throat and calmed my nerves as best I could. “No, I am not.”

  He was quiet for a short while. “Then who are you?”

  “Caelum Desanto, my name is Serenity Alucard Raynar.”

  Again he was quiet for short while. “The Raynar Primatriarch.”

  He lifted his head from the uncomfortable pillow, and raised the blindfold away from his eyes. “Serenity…a pretty name.”

  He climbed off the bunk and slowly approached the transparent wall.

  In response, I heard my guardsmen shift their bodies behind me.

  The cell block floor was elevated so he stood looking down at me. Then he crouched, and regarded me from head to toe with keen eyes.

  “Serenity Alucard. A pretty name for a pretty woman. I never imagined you’d be so young.”

  He ran his gaze over me twice more, stopping at my chest.

  “Ah, what a pity.”

  He stood up and then walked back to the bunk bed. Then lay back down, slipping the blindfold back over his eyes.

  I blinked a few times.

  I had read his dossier but even so I wasn’t prepared for this sort of response.

  I thought I heard a few mutterings between the men behind me. When I glanced at them they quickly averted their eyes and stood in rigid attention.

  Caelum’s voice came through the speakers. “I don’t get it. You’re an Alucard. Why is it you’re nothing like Simone?”

  My breath choked.

  What—what the Hell did he just insinuate?

  I sucked in a lungful of air. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  Lying on his back, he raised his hands above him and made fondling gestures. “Anything less than a Dee cup is a waste of time.”

  “Ah—what did you say?”

  “Forget it. Go back. I have no interest in what you’re offering.”

  “Wh—what?”

  I restrained the urge to kick the wall in front of me.

  Again, I heard the men mutter behind me.

  Again, they averted their eyes and stood in a protective stance when I glanced at them.

  Turning back to the cell block, I closed my eyes, and struggled to regain my self-control. Coughing into a fist, I cleared my throat.

  “Caelum Desa
nto, since you know who I am, don’t you think it’s worth your while to listen to me.”

  He sighed loudly. “Very well, I’m listening.”

  “We all know that you’re quite capable of leaving this containment facility. We know there’s nothing we can do to stop you.”

  “Then why try to hold me here?”

  “Because…because it reassures us. It makes us feel that we’re in control of the situation—in control of you.”

  He raised his head, and the mask. His eyes met mine. “Go on.”

  “That being said, we have no desire to be your enemy.”

  “That’s good to hear. Go on.”

  “We have a proposal to offer you.”

  He sat up on his elbows. “I’m listening.”

  “We’d like you”—I swallowed quickly—“we’d like you to join us in protecting Pharos.”

  “Pharos? Not the Raynar Pride?”

  I had to laugh at his question. Would he even consider affiliating with the Raynar Pride? I had issued a declaration that guardianship over him was to be transferred to the Raynar Pride. The Lanfears had grudgingly agreed, but Caelum Desanto had yet to be asked what he thought.

  As a Familiar, he didn’t have a say in the matter.

  But he wasn’t an ordinary Familiar anymore.

  Telling him what to do and expecting him to follow through didn’t go hand-in-hand any longer.

  I needed to tread lightly, and very smartly.

  Perhaps this would have been easier if my breasts were bigger?

  I stepped up to the transparent wall, then reached out and touched it. “Would you settle for just protecting one Pride?”

  “Is that what you should be asking?” He sat up and swung his legs off the bunk. “Lady Primatriarch, let me ask you something.”

  I nodded guardedly.

  He stood up and walked over to the wall, then he crouched down as he had before. Even then he still looked down at me.

  “You want an assurance that I won’t go on a rampage. You want an assurance that will convince you that you can trust me. That I’m not a threat. You want something that will gain you leverage over the other Primatriarchs. Something that will elevate your Pride over the others.”

  I smiled weakly at him.

  I hadn’t given him enough credit. He understood both our situations well.

  He smiled at me, a knowing, somewhat arrogant smile. “You know what’s inside me, don’t you.”

  I nodded faintly. “Yes. The Artifact known as the Regalia. It’s what bonds you to your Warlord. It allows you to command it as though it’s part of your body.”

  He nodded in response. “The Regalia inside me cannot be removed. You cannot unbind it from me the way you did the other Artifact I used.”

  “Yes, I understand that.”

  “Which means, that if you want it out, you have to kill me.”

  I swallowed. “We have no intention of harming you.”

  “And I have no intention of letting you harm me.” He touched the wall. “You want to know why I haven’t broken free?”

  “Yes….”

  “It’s because the Prides have something that I want. Rather, there’s something they can do for me.”

  I raised my chin a little higher. “What would that be?”

  He held up two fingers. “Two things.”

  I nodded hesitantly. “I’m listening.”

  He folded on finger down. “Simone Alucard. I don’t want her harmed or inconvenienced. I owe her a debt of gratitude, and she means a great deal to me.”

  I frowned slightly. “Simone would never be harmed.”

  “Perhaps. Let’s just say, I don’t want history to repeat itself.”

  I blinked and couldn’t help my eyes widening.

  Upon my reaction, he nodded with a solemn expression. “I lost Lisanna because I trusted those close to me. I don’t intend to lose Simone the same way.”

  I swallowed heavily.

  The young man before me had the appearance of Caelum Desanto.

  But the young man speaking to me was someone else.

  “Who—who are you? Who are you really?”

  “I am Caelum Desanto. That hasn’t changed and won’t ever change. But I’m also Kallum Kampfer. I can’t help that. I have his memories, his experiences, his love and his pain.” He touched his chest. “I have everything. It’s been a struggle to sort through his life and keep it separate from mine. To that end, you have my thanks for keeping me in isolation. It made things easier for me.”

  His eyes flickered as he looked at the men standing several feet behind me.

  I hardened my voice. “You can trust them. I trust them with my life. You can trust them with your words to me.”

  He regarded me for a few moments. “History has forgotten Kallum Kampfer, but I see you haven’t.”

  I nodded. “I’m a Primatriarch. I’m privy to a great many things—a great many truths.” I hesitated with my next words. “Thank you for everything you did for us.” I hesitated again. “I’m sorry…for your loss.”

  His eyes searched my face. I watched his expression darken as he did, but I also saw the pain of loss run across it. “Like I said, I won’t make the same mistake again.”

  I pressed on. “You spoke of two things. What is the second?”

  He held up two fingers once more. “If my bloodline and Fatina’s survived, then I want to know if others endured.”

  “You mean the other Original Twelve?”

  “Correct. Pretty and smart. I’ll give you a score of eight point five out of ten.”

  “Uh—eh?”

  He leaned forward and pressed three fingers against the transparent steel.

  “Ravana, Avienda, and Merkala. Together we formed a team.” He closed his fingers into a fist. “I want to know about the third pilot’s bloodline. I want to know if they’ve survived to this day.”

  I tipped my head slightly. “Why?”

  The smile he gave me made him appear inhuman. “Because I want to kill them. Each and every last surviving descendant.”

  Horror spread through my body.

  His smile grew even more twisted. “I want to bring her lineage to an end.”

  I almost stepped away. “Why?”

  His face relaxed, yet he looked regretful. “Because it’s the only thing I can do for him. To fulfill his revenge on the woman who betrayed him, and appease his soul.”

  He stood up.

  “If you help me, then you’ll have my co-operation. Do we have an agreement?”

  “Your co-operation. What does that entail?”

  “I’ll do what you ask of me, provided it’s within reason and doesn’t go against my nature or my way of thinking.”

  “That’s narrow minded. Then you’re saying you’re not open to suggestion.”

  He smiled at me. “No, if you can convince me to do something, then I’ll do it.”

  “Very well. What if I ask you to swear allegiance to the Raynar Pride?”

  “No. Not going to happen.”

  “What if it’s allegiance to another Pride?”

  “No way, not going to happen either.”

  I snorted. “I had to at least try.”

  “You didn’t try convincing me.”

  I glanced down for a moment, and considered the terms of his conditions. “You’re asking me to help you commit murder—to kill innocent people.”

  “Are you telling me you don’t have blood on your hands?”

  “And if I refuse? What if I say the price is too high?” I looked at him with a steady gaze. “Is killing off an entire bloodline what you truly want?”

  “If it’ll ease the pain, then yes.”

  “But that’s not what you told Fallon Acacia.”

  He hesitated for a heartbeat. “She told you?”

  I nodded.

  Desanto snorted. “That was before I had time to deal with his memories.”

  I shook my head slowly. “I cannot agree to this. I cannot
help you kill those people if they’re still alive.”

  Desanto was quiet for a long while. Then he walked back to the bed and sat on its edge.

  I watched him lower his head into his hands.

  Silence filled the air, except for the gentle thrum of the life support systems.

  When he broke the silence, I heard the strain in his voice.

  “You don’t know what it’s like…to feel the pain of his loss. It just doesn’t go away.”

  I understood what he meant.

  The death of Lisanna Ekaterine Alleyne – the girl that Kallum Kampfer, Meister of the Rho-Khan Ravana, and supreme commander of the Second Fleet, came to adore.

  Her death broke him.

  He committed suicide on the final day of the invasion, on the day the War of Supremacy came to an end.

  And now that man’s memories were inside the body of a young, almost seventeen year old boy.

  I swallowed and came to a decision, then walked around to the cell’s entrance. Then I placed my palm on the clear scanning plate, and spoke my pass-phrase. When the door opened, I hesitated only a moment before climbing the steps into the cell block.

  And then I approached the young man seated on the edge of the narrow bunk.

  I knelt before him on bended knee.

  He looked at me, and I saw tears on his face.

  Desanto shook his head slowly. “I don’t want this. I don’t want this pain. It’s…it’s so hard…so hard to keep down. I feel…I feel like slitting my wrists…and just ending it.”

  Yes, I knew that too.

  The reports stated he cried often, almost always in his sleep.

  Cried until he ran out of tears was how the psycho analyst phrased it, when she briefed me on his state of mind.

  I’d viewed the recordings in private; they were painful to watch.

  Looking at him carefully, I could see he’d rested little in the two weeks since he’d been brought here. He looked worn out, and he’d lost a little weight too.

  I bit my lower lip and decided to trust my instincts.

  I reached out my arms, and embraced him.

  For now, it was all I could do for him.

  But I made him a vow.

  “If you help me…I promise to do everything I can to help you.”

  I felt his arms slip around me.

  I heard him sob into my chest.

  And I heard his whispered words.

  “Thank you.”