- Death and Mira -
Death and Mira arrived at the walls that surrounded a large gothic castle. They were greeted by three guards in black cloaks.
"Queen Gwyn and King Lucius are waiting for you in the meeting hall sir."
Death got off his uništi and handed the reins to the guard.
"If anyone steals him I'll be holding all of you responsible." Death said, walking through the doors of the wall and into the castle with Mira, who was glaring at the guards.
"I know you aren't fond of their kind, but giving them dirty looks won't accomplish anything." Death said to Mira.
Mira ignored Death. She couldn't stand the vampires. The only reason she didn't give the same glare to Yvere was because of Lucifer. Death didn't tolerate racism, but Lucifer was the type to threaten if his team was treated poorly. She thought back to a story she had heard of Lucifer slamming Michael's head into a wall for a comment he made regarding Peter.
'I can't understand why an ancient God and an archangel would be so fervent about equality. Some races are just better than others. That might not be the case for humans, but they have their world and we have ours.'
Death was considering the possibility that Mira might say or do something that slights the vampiric rulers.
'Please don't run your mouth or make a face in front of these two. I'm not your guardian, at least I shouldn't be, and if they challenge you to a duel you won't win.'
Death decided that staying in his head was a bad idea and tried to nip the problem in the bud.
"Respect the hierarchy of power. Understand that the Queen and King both outrank you.
Most angels are considered to be minor gods in terms of strength. Heaven, much like the Hindu god pantheon, was considered a realm of many gods in this world.
Mira respected rank. The only reason she had been somewhat casual with Death was his nature and beliefs on equality. Death was known for being among the most reasonable of the ancient gods and often welcomed friendly conversation with beings of any rank. He was the only ancient god that she was familiar with, more than even her father.
"I will bite my tongue and keep my eyes blank. I do not wish to offend such strong beings." Mira said, completely monotone.
Death would've rolled his eyes, but decided he should just take the small victory and not push any harder.
The inside of the castle was deceptively complicated, with multiple pathways and doors that lead to various rooms. Death had been to the castle in the past and remembered enough to get to the meeting hall without issue.
Upon arrival in the meeting hall, Death was hugged by Lucius.
"Good to see you again. I'm glad to know you still dress terribly." Lucius said lifting Death in the air with his hug.
"Good to see you still hug like you're trying to snap my spine." Death said pushing Lucius off of him.
Lucius stood at eye level with Death, being 6'5" tall. His look was similar to most of the vampires they had seen with a slim build, pale skin, and long gray hair tied in a ponytail. The main exception was his green eyes. His outfit was a tight all-black suit with matching pants.
Death took off his robe and handed it to Lucius, who gave it to a guard.
"Is the Queen in the training area?" Death asked.
"Good guess. I see you haven't forgotten our tradition." Lucius said smiling
Mira wasn't familiar with vampiric tradition so she looked confused by the statement. She turned towards Death and made a look that said "What is he talking about?"
Death noticed and decided to clarify for her indirectly.
"You mean the tradition where you and the Queen practice your abilities against me?" Death asked Lucius
"Of course. It's our favorite one. Next to trying to persuade you to sell us Oći."
Lucius was referring to Death's uništi.
"Please stop calling him that," Death sighed.
Lucius began leading Death and Mira to the castle's training grounds. It was a large courtyard-like structure with gravel and a pond. The sounds of water violently hitting stone could be heard.
The training area had multiple stone dummies setup and a stone mage on standby ready to fix any damage.
"Gwyn dear, Death has arrived."
The vampire Queen was wearing black spandex shorts and a black spandex top, exposing her midriff. She stood 5'11" tall. She had short white hair that was spiky in the front with a boxier build than Lucius. Her skin was partially tanned, along with one (left) red eye and one (right) blue.
"Good to see you again. I trust you're prepared?"
Death sighed and asked Mira to watch from above.
"These fights tend to get messy and I don't want to have to worry about you getting hit."
Mira flew to the top of the castle and watched from above.
'Is he seriously going to fight both of them at the same time?'
Lucius took off his suit, revealing an outfit similar to the Queen's. Guards appeared and took the weapon racks and targets away from the area. Multiple stone walls rose up around the training ground, sealing off the exits.
"How do you want to start?" Death asked
Lucius conjured a fireball and Gwyn manipulated a large orb of water out of the pond.
"Whenever you're ready." They both said.
Death materialized his scythe.
"How about as soon as the bottom of my scythe hits the ground?"
Lucius and Gwyn nodded. Death touched his scythe to the ground and the three began.
- Lucifer -
Yvere walked out of her parents' house and put up her index finger behind her back to Lucifer.
Lucifer went up to Yvere's parents.
"I'm sorry for what happened. I shouldn't have allowed such a mistake and I assure you it will pay for what it did."
Yvere had told Lucifer prior to coming here that she was going to tell her parents. Lucifer told her that whatever she decides, to give him a sign. One finger for truth, two for lie.
Yvette was still upset with Lucifer.
"Anything happens to her and rankings or not I will kill you."
Lucifer pretended to be threatened by the statement.
'No sense in posturing with a worried mother.'
Gerard grabbed Lucifer's shirt.
"I trusted you, don't make me regret it!" Gerard then whispered. "Please keep her safe." before letting go of Lucifer.
Lucifer fixed his shirt and nodded to Gerard. Yvere hugged her parents one more time and then went towards her uništi.
"Are you okay?" Lucifer asked Yvere as she walked past.
"I'll be better when it's dead." She replied.
Lucifer told everyone they were heading towards the castle next. It was time for Lucifer to resume his magic training with Elijah.
'I should teach him how to properly cover his hands in mana first so he doesn't wreck them again. I wonder how well he's retained info from the guide? I should test him while we're training.'
Lucifer was thinking when Elijah walked up to him.
"Yes?"
"When do we use these passage coins?" Elijah held up the coin.
Lucifer had been so caught up with training that he forgot to confirm certain things with Elijah.
"I thought you read about it already?" Lucifer sounded disappointed.
"I mostly read up on the etiquette of the various northern territories. I didn't read about these coins." Elijah responded.
Lucifer sighed and grabbed the coin.
"These are basically a means to show you went through the border properly. Each representative god, or gods, in this case, has their own coin. The vampires have no problems with humans so most of the time the guards won't ask to see it."
Lucifer handed the coin back to Elijah and continued.
"Originally there was only supposed to be one universal coin, but the gods couldn't decide on one. So now there are various checkpoints along the border with different races giving out different coins. Never give the coin to someone, and if they ask to see it you tell them it's mine, and you're just holding it for me."
The group came to a busy intersection while Lucifer was explaining things. Elijah was bumped into by a man, who he quickly grabbed the arm of.
"Give it back." Elijah angrily whispered to the man.
People were staring at Elijah who was now looking around. Lucifer grabbed the man's arm from his pocket and took the passage coin out of his hand.
"I assume you would like to keep this hand, so I recommend being more careful with your marks."
Lucifer released his grip on the man's arm and put the coin in his pocket. He went around gathering everyone's coins and putting them in a sealed bag that he put on his side.
"I didn't think someone would attempt that here, but I guess thieves will always exist, regardless of the location."
Elijah felt confident that no one would try to steal from Lucifer personally. Lucifer felt annoyed that he had to keep an eye out so early for pickpockets.
'If it happens again I'm breaking the thief's wrist as an example. I'm sure Death enjoys not having to deal with such inconveniences. Speaking of, I wonder how the vampiric tradition is going?'
Lucifer made sure to put on his meanest face while walking in an attempt to deter any more problems. There was the occasional vampiric salesman walking up asking to buy the uništi, but other than that, no problems.
Lao, Sabu, Peter, Heinrich, and Elijah were approached now and again with the offer of money for some of their blood. Everyone refused, but it didn't stop the pushy buyers that would keep appearing after every few hundred feet.
Elijah asked Lucifer why he wasn't being propositioned for blood.
"Angel blood, even more so in the case of archangels, is considered top quality. Most of these salesmen know who I am and know they can't afford the usual asking price."
Lucifer was happy knowing that at least one aspect of who he was had been deterring minor annoyances instead of inviting them.
The group arrived at the walls that separated the vampire Queen and King's castle from the city. The guards noticed Lucifer and opened up the doors to let him through.