At a speed of around 3 meters per hour, Lucy clawed and dug upwards with no care of how much time passed. Though her eyes were clenched she could still see where she was going through what Amara refers to as echolocation.
Lucy was thankful now more than ever for being a vampire. Along with the use of this ability and the lack of need for oxygen or rest, she was able to dig leisurely.
'I'd much prefer swimming, but I feel this is much easier than I expected. Must be the whole superior strength and speed thing haha' Lucy thought haughtily.
In Amara's lifetime the world of Aleria was a savage and magical world where one's power decided all. Kingdoms were just beginning to appear, and lawlessness still ran rampant.
The strongest powers at the time were the race of the magic beasts because of their fast cultivation and magic, second were the lycans because of their alliance with the werewolves.
But with humanity getting stronger every day and the werewolves already distrusting of vampires Amara felt it was only a matter of time before a genocide was forced upon her people.
That is why she felt the need to create a kingdom of her own. Her brethren vampires were at constant war and lived like tribal savages. Amara envisioned a kingdom where her kind could live like the nobility, she felt they could be.
Alas she did not live to see the fruition of her dream at least not for long. The world of Aleria today was a mystery to Lucy. She did not know what to expect from the world or its inhabitants above.
Looking at the architecture of the castle and clothes she was wearing she'd say they were pretty advanced but definitely not more than her land of Morgana.
Her world of Morgana had begun experimenting with electricity and had recently started trying to produce electric carts and wagons.
She had dreamt of making Morgana a powerhouse country with an emphasis on research and technology. Sadly, she too was not able to see her dream come to fruition.
Lucy thought about her past and her future as she clawed for freedom through the dark soil. Time passed by achingly slow and Lucy was unsure how long she'd been underground.
As night turned into day and back into night once again Lucy's soil and bloodstained hand finally pierced through to the surface.
The light of the new moon shined down on the strange scene of a nude young woman appearing from the ground. As Lucy whipped her dirt stained hair to and fro she glared at the new moon above with a bright smile that stretched from ear to ear
"Hahahahaha I made it just in time to see the New Moon! And what a magnificent one it is, definitely worthy of being the first sight this New Queen sees after so long in the dark" laughed Lucy.
Bloody tears of joy slid down Lucy's dirt stained face as an array of sights, sounds and sensations assaulted her. The various new smells and sounds gave Lucy a small headache, but she was ecstatic to be free.
"Hahaha I've never seen the moon and stars this clearly before, mmm I can smell the sea so I must be near an ocean that means I can bathe finally, and I can hear the sounds of so many heartbeats around me. So, THIS is what it means to be a vampire" beamed Lucy as she twirled in circles in the clearing.
A sudden grumbling from her stomach and prick of pain in her throat however put an end to her celebration.
"Oh, wow I'm literally famished I wonder what I should have for dinner tonight" said Lucy as she eyed her surroundings, "I'd eat anything as long as it's not a rodent again"
'Hmm I'm in the forest so I should definitely be able to find some prey here'
Lucy closed her eyes and focused her senses on the forest around her. She smelled the scents of various flowers, fruits, and animals but could not choose a suitable prey.
Her ears were filled with the sounds of splashing, wings flapping, rustling foliage, and the occasional snore.
'Oh, wow this island is teeming with life, interesting' Lucy thought as she continued trying to focus her senses.
Vampires had an uncanny tracking ability known as Blood Vision that allowed them to literally track the blood in a person or creature's body. At this moment Lucy stumbled upon this useful skill as she tried to choose her next prey.
The world around her was suddenly became speckled with big and small red dots, almost like an infrared vision.
"Oh, this is amazing I can feel and see the sources of blood around me. To my left there is a small sized source of blood judging by the shape it's probably a bird. And to the far right is a large bear shaped source, so many choices!" Lucy spun around happily.
After weighing her options Lucy eventually settled on a rather large blood source pretty far from where she currently was. She figured if she was going to waste energy on a hunt it might as well be worth it. Especially since it would be her first REAL meal as a vampire.
Due to the distance of the prey from Lucy she couldn't discern what or who it was yet so she felt the best course of action would be to approach the target as a bat, but soon rethought the idea after quickly searching Amara's memories.
'Wait! I can just Shadow jump there. This is the perfect environment for this gift, plus I will cover much more ground than I would as a bat, and I'd use less energy. A win win' thought Lucy as she slowly crept to the tree line in front of her.
"Okay so here goes nothing, in my memories I just kind of melt into the shadows around me and then boom I pop out of other shadows 30 feet away. Should be easy!"
Lucy's dirt stained nude form melted into a patch of nearby shadows with ease and appeared 30 feet away just as planned.
'Oh, wow it worked I'll reach that prey in no- wait I've gotten slightly further away Lucy thought confusedly 'Oh fuck don't tell me 30 feet away meant in any direction'
As she searched her memories Lucy was dismayed to find that shadow jumping is only useful if the vampire knew the location it was going and had been there before.
As this was Lucy's first time on the surface the ability could not be used to its full effect.
Lucy released a frustrated huff before turning into her bat form.
'Ugh I guess I do have to fly there' she complained before taking off in the direction of the large blood source, 'I hope this meal is worth it…'
Lucy flew closer and closer towards her next meal, hunger constantly spurring her on. Flapping for so long was beginning to make Lucy's shoulders sore but she could feel symptoms of The Thirst taking affect.
'Fuck my throat is starting to burn, I need to feed quickly!' Lucy thought as she increased her speed.
According to her Blood Vision ability the source was less than 10 meters away and at this distance she could finally discern its outline and form.
'By God is that an elephant?!' Lucy wondered incredulously as she flew closer and closer to the large slumbering beast.