"Nnnng…"
!
They're waking up! Nice!
I sit in front of them and wait for them to become completely lucid, and when they see me I say:
"Hey you, you're finally awake."
They both look at eachother kind of confused as they don't remember the past couple hours. The mom and daughter then feel something take control of them. They look towards me and feel a sense of admiration and loyalty, with the mom feeling compelled to even serve me. She looks at me and gets up to one knee and says,
"How can I serve you, mistress?"
….
For some reason being called mistress stirs something up inside of me. Maybe it's the effects of becoming a vampire, or I'm just awakening to my sadistic desires. Either way, I walk up to her and hold her chin in my hand and realize that she's quite good looking. I stroke her cheek, and give her a warm smile. Her daughter on the other hand is understandably creeped out by how her mom is acting. I reach my hand out and say,
"Come here."
She feels as though she no longer has control of her body and she walks towards me with fear in her eyes.
"W-what did you do to my mom?"
"Just a bit of brainwashing. Don't worry, she's still the same person."
`Uhm, Eve, is she still the same person… You know… Up there?'
[Yes, she just feels more connected to you and worships you as if you were a god to her.]
'Oof, that's gonna get annoying.'
The woman looks over to her daughter and motions for her to come over to her. The girl walks over to her as her mom tells her to get on one knee.
"We'll serve you for all eternity mistress."
"Call me Lady Luna from now on. However, I want you to act like you always do when we're around others. It would be weird if a woman came back to town worshiping a little girl."
"Yes, Lady Luna."
"Good. Then, bring me to your town. When we get there I want you to say that you found me on the roadside covered in blood near the corpse of a woman. Well, that did happen, but I just want you to leave the vampire thing out of it. After burying the body, you brought me back with you to the town to raise as your own daughter."
"Yes Lady Luna. Our town is just a few more junts away."
…
'Eve, how long is a junt?'
[It is ~1.25 miles]
"Ah nice. That can't be too far. Also, translate that to miles to start with from now on."
---------------------
…
I severely underestimated the patience of medieval people. I thought I was the most bored when I couldn't find anything interesting on streaming sites but holy fuck was I wrong. I wasn't walking down a dirt road that always looks the same past trees that always looks the same with a sky above me that ALWAYS LOOKS THE SAME! The most interesting thing that happened on this walk was when a tree branch fell off right in front of us!
However, we eventually come upon quite a cute and quiet little town. I swear this felt like a cutscene because the trees end off in a circle where the shadow blocks your view of the town until the sun beams in your eyes, then the scene of a little town shows up and birds fly right past the screen.
Anyways, now that we're here, I ask what the name of the town is.
"It's Gardendale."
"Oh, where'd it get the name from?"
"It's known as the garden town. The entire town is surrounded by a vast field of flowers. Many painters from the capitol come to this town in order to practice."
"Ah, quite a cozy sounding village."
Me and Janet started to get closer to each other during the walk. She's quite adorable to be completely honest. When I told her my actual age was closer to 30 than it was to 11, she freaked out a little bit. Nonetheless, I guess my childish appearance made her let her guard down. She asked me why I drank their blood and I told her that I needed it to survive. She seemed rather interested in vampires so I told her a bit about them while also learning more myself.
Apparently, the fiction of my world was accurate in some places, and completely off in most other ones. Vampires DO need blood to survive; however, it does not have to be human blood. Human blood just tastes better because of the mana flowing through it. As such, magical beast's blood will taste just as good, if not better, than human blood. Vampires DO get agitated by the sun, but it's more along the same lines as redheads do. I should know, I was red-headed on Earth. She had never heard of the garlic thing either. And they are pretty much immortal, with one never having died of natural causes.
I guess if vampires were real on Earth, they were like the devolved version of actual vampires.
[Yes, that is correct. Those vampires sound more like Ghouls. Also, being a Lesser Vaewolf you have even less weaknesses than them. Normal vampire's problem with the sun is completely negated for you. You need far less blood than them as well.]
Nice. I guess I shoulda tried saving that woman, huh?
[No. You could not save her and her need for blood would cause her to go berserk and kill you after a few days.]
Yikes. Mommy got bite. Nevermind then.
------------------------
After a few more minutes of walking, we arrive at the gate of the town. A beautiful archway with the words "GARDENDALE" was painted on it with many flowers and a pink tree in the background.
"Quite a beautiful sign."
Angie turns and looks at me with a big smile on her face.
"Thank you! I'm the one who painted it!"
"I see. You have some amazing skills. I may have you paint a portrait of me one day."
As we enter the walls, everyone looks our way.
A little boy comes up to her while blushing,
"Hey Miss Angie! This is for you!"
He hands her a flower that he obviously found on the side of the road. It's quite adorable nonetheless.
A shop owner comes outside after noticing her,
"Angie, are you almost finished with that sign?"
"Nearly there! It should be done by this Harvell!"
I ask Eve what Harvell is.
[This world has an eight day week. From start to finish the days go Tranday, Kolhart, Portel, Intrei,Helnew, Veigoth, Harvell, and Flamgreid.]
'Shit that's gonna be difficult to remember.'
[Also, the days last 28 hours.]
As I'm counting on my hands to help remember the days, a woman wearing clothes that look slightly nicer than the rest comes up to Angie.
"The portrait you did for the chapel looks incredible! Do you think you do one for my house?"
"Certainly Mrs. Gardendale!
…
Nobody seems to notice the blood-stained girl on her back but whatever...
…
I look up towards her as she's carrying me and ask:
"You're pretty popular aren't you?"
"I mean, I am the town's only artist so any artwork comes through me. My last one was the reason I was walking back home. The king asked many artists to come to the capital of Ghontel to paint depictions of the hero's victory. Mine, of course, wasn't chosen to reside in the throne room as I am merely a peasant who has taught themselves how to paint. The winner was a pro named Hela who was the apprentice of the nation's greatest artist, Kian."
"Ahh I see. If I could've shared my memories with you you probably would've won."
"Why is that?"
"I mean I witnessed the whole thing. Every detail till their very end. Then again, the hero didn't actually win so that wouldn't have really helped huh…"
"Wait… The hero… Lost?"
"Yeah. After jamming a silver spike through my heart, my mother went berserk and ran him through with her sword. Of course, this didn't kill him but after a few more minutes of fighting, they were both run through by each other. The hero died first with none on his side surviving, while my mom was actually killed by me with me being the sole survivor of the whole battle."
"Then the government and church have lied to us."
"Shocker,"
I reply sarcastically.
"Well, I suppose it's better this way. They most likely have no idea of my survival. Now that I think about it, maybe taking the holy spear was a really bad idea…"
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
Angie yells out, scaring people nearby and me.
"Oh.. I'm so sorry everyone!"
She gets a cute embarrassed look on her face and starts walking a little faster. I see everyone that witnessed that kind of giggle to themselves and keep on their way. After a while, we get to her house. It's a cozy two story cottage with plenty of window planters. She sets me down on a fluffy couch and sits across from me with her hands on her head. She looks up at me and continues the conversation from earlier.
"You said you took the holy spear? That's the nation's divine treasure that's been passed down to every hero!"
"True, but vampires can't touch the holy spear without being turned to ash, and it's not like I'm gonna be waving the thing around crazily drawing attention to it."
"Th-that's true… But still! Without it, the next hero will have no means to fight off the next catastrophe… Unless…"
Angie takes a brief pause before continuing on;
"Holy shit! That might have been the best idea!"
"What do you mean?"
"What if you're meant to be the next catastrophe!"
...
"Holy shit! I'm a stupid genius!"
If I am indeed supposed to be the next catastrophe, taking the holy spear basically makes me invincible if I grow as powerful as my mom was! Obviously, this is very good for me since a hero is literally made to counter me!
-----------------
Meanwhile:
A well-built man in a loose fitting white shirt and black pants with long flowing black and gray hair and an equally majestic beard to accompany it sits on a tall throne at the end of a giant hallway. In front of him, a middle-aged man with blonde in grey robes is kneeling.
After a few uncomfortable seconds the king addresses the man:
"Pope Audrey, I assume you have a good reason for interrupting my training, yes? I allowed your church's incursions into my peace for my son. However, the mission you sent him on was far too soon for him. Even with the spear."
Pope Audrey raised his head and revealed an apathetic face and said:
"Your Majesty, King Ghontel, the church knew of the strength of the catastrophe, but had we waited any longer it would have been too much for the hero to ever handle. Then, nobody would have been able to save us."
"Enough, we've been over this already. Get to the point. Why. Are. You. Here."
"*Ehem* Certainly… It's my pleasure to inform you that the hero's party, along with the forces you sent with them, have successfully ended the catastrophe. However, in doing so they have given their lives."
The king stares at the man with a cold look on his face.
"I see. How many survived?"
"None, my liege."
…
"I must have asked the wrong question, how many of OUR people survived."
"None. Neither side had any survivors."
…
"My son?"
"I am afraid the hero perished as well."
*CRACK*
The king clenched his fist and cracked the arm of his adamantium throne. The pope recoils in fear at the sight of this.
"I knew I should have gone in his place. I would've squashed that bug before it could even get off the ground."
"You could have, but that would have gone against the prophecy! You know what happened the last time someone went against the prophecies!"
"I know! I know goddess dammit!"
The king punches the other arm of his throne straight off before standing up and walking right up to the pope with a vein popping out of his forehead.
"Go back to your little chapel before I do something I regret!"
The guards present are shaking as they've never seen the king get so mad. The sight was quite ridiculous as the king is nearly 8 feet tall and the pope is only 5 feet six inches. The pope quickly bows to the king before scurrying off like a wet rat.
The king looks to his aide that is standing next to his throne. The young elven woman with bright green hair speaks up,
"The pope won't take this sitting down, you know?"
"HA! I'd like to see him and his holy knights try to touch a hair on my head. He'd better pray to his goddess that I don't take initiative against him! Isn't that right Juniper?"
"True. With a status like yours there aren't many who could threaten you. However, the same cannot be said for your daughters and other son."
"I agree. Double the amount of guards that are usually around them. Take my own if needs be."
----------------------
A few miles away from the palace, in a cathedral just slightly smaller than said palace, pope Audrey is sat on a golden chair with a man dressed in a hunter's furs prostrating before him. Pope Audrey takes a sip from a flask before speaking
"Have you found the sword and spear yet?"
"Not yet, sir. It's as if they disappeared right from the hero and catastrophe's bodies. However, The spear doesn't seem to be what killed the catastrophe. There were plenty of spear wounds, but the finishing blow seemed to be done with a sword. In addition, the wound found on the catastrophe was consistent with the wounds found on the hero's body."
"So, are we to assume that this is two separate scavengers? The holy sword cannot be wielded by infernal beings and the cursed sword cannot be wielded by non-infernal beings."
"Most likely. However, we're still searching for traces of holy energy. But it's as if the spear simply disappeared!"
Audrey looks over at his glass and starts thinking to himself,
'It's like a fucking god came down and took it! No! Even then, there should've been massive traces of divine energy! A demon lord maybe? Yes! That explains it!'
He gets a small smile on his face and looks over at the man in fur.
"A demon lord stole both the holy spear and the cursed sword."
The man starts to sweat, as he knows what's coming next.
"A demon lord came and wiped out both sides of the battle and then stole the spear. That's the story that we'll tell the public."
The man starts to think to himself.
'He's wanting to start a fucking crusade!'
------------------------
Back in the town of Gardendale, Luna is sleeping in a big bed with Angie and Janet as her eyes suddenly shoot open.
'Blood?'
------------------------