Crystal Central Presents
'I pray Boston will not play out like New York did, elseways and Grumpy will really see to it that I burn on a stake as I watch him eating my hearts. That satyr is no herbivore.'
Honey brown skin, slender short girl with cropped auburn hair. She proceeded towards the Portal Area thinking of the various creative ways Principal Ibet Morningdew would kill her if she managed to mess things up in the mortals' realm again. Otto would naturally go for a successful mission topped with no mess ups- this was what she was praying for at least, but HER luck happened.
Her luck had never been the four leaf clover kind, and 'optimistic' would be the wrong term for her feelings towards it. Yet she now had to find a way to somehow contain a well fed ghoul with her power out of control. Great.
All that tension had built up quite an appetite, seeing that the last of the four blood boxes she had taken from the canteen behind the Administrative building was empty.
She threw the red carton box in one of the conveniently available trash cans beside the road. It's best not to intentionally anger the burrowing sprites with irresponsible dumping. Their vengeance was brutal; They could reconnect your water pipes to the phlegethon river. It has happened.
An aerial view of the academy revealed it's shape like a mallet with a short handle or a sideways 'T'. Soaring marvels of Gothic architectural style buildings nestled within thick walls of natural grey stone. Otto lived on the far end of the 'handle' with the other Guardian Trainees; the Admin building was where the 'handle and head' connected - right at the heart of the Academy; the Portal Area was separate from the 'mallet', just a bit off to the left from the top 'head', connected to the 'mallet' by a wide gloomy cobbled trail.
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Forward moved the Nelapsi, on a straight tarmac road with sharp Conners. Nothing Roman about it, vampires had a thing for sharp angles, sharp edges, straight lines and shaddows.
The looming thick grey wall stretched parallel to her, one street over. Faded and imposing.
The last turn before the Cobbled path was in sight. Otto's hazel eyes were grim orbs of determination. One chance, that was it. Messy powers and a grumpy goat would not put her down. She took a turn to her left at the ' T' junction, the cobbled path to the Portal Area was straight ahead.
As an Outcast Vampire she was not even supposed to be at Prima Las Academy of Vampires in the first place. The Great Vampire Commune would never accept for a 'Vyrr'(Outcast Vampire) to live amongst them- The Inclusive vampires. Fear led them to kill Outcast vampires like her on sight. Necessity led Outcasts to kill Inclusives in turn. But there she was, alive among Inclusives, as a test subject of an experiment.
She was not even sure if any Ancient or Cardinal Vampire would accept her, an Outcast, as their Imperial Knight- Outcasts who were known to be uncontrollable and ruthless vampires that fed on humans and fellow vampires alike . But now that she was here, she would strive for that title.
'Imperial.' It sounded good even in her thoughts.
That was power, it was status and it was the key to her vengeance on the Altar vampire that turned her into this. An unlovable Vyrr that killed her own mother. But for that she had to remain in the academy, protecting her ranking, not in Asphodel guarding Souls.
'One chance.' Von Aito thought amidst a winded breath to calm her rapidly beating hearts.
She now stood before the Cobbled path. She saw how the path forced a gap on the academy walls and how it disappeared into the fog beyond the walls. Empty and silent.
The upcoming vampire hunting season held by the Hunters led the Academy to prohibit any unofficial visits to the mortals' realm. For this reason the path appeared deserted, a contrast to regular times when vampires would come to apply for vocational visits in hordes to engage in the diverse assortment of the mortals' realm nightlife.
'For power, For vengeance.' She firmly put her leg forth past gap between two thick and towering grey walls of the academy, setting out on the lonely cobbled path towards the Portal Area.
Portals of the Underworld connected to many random locations in the realm of mortals. New ones also occasionally appeared in the yet to be stable underworld, also connecting to random locations in the mortals' realm. The escapee ghoul had happened to bump into one such newly formed portal, bagging a free retreat to Boston.
The Underworld was in no way as bright as summer but I guess that is to be expected; thank the gods Demeus, Prima of the Sun doesn't shine on the underworld like Ra does. No vampire would like that.
It's not dark either, instead, it looks like a cloudy day still undecided whether to rain or not. The brightest region would be by the fiery waters of river phlegethon.
But there were exceptions. One of them being the domain the academy stood in - Hecate's domain. Except for the areas within the Academy's bounds (including the Portal Area), the rest was covered in the Fog of Hecate's magic.
Regularly, the Trainers would warn them never to run into the fog. They say this in a most insistent fashion. They repeat it until the maxim is etched in every trainee's brain.
In regards to this, the school felt like a prison to some degree, or a boot camp if you consider the Guardian Trainees' routine.
The path to the Portal Area was not a long one. Otto had walked on it several times before. It must have been the gloom of the fog flanking both sides of the path, along with the absence of a rowdy crowd of vampires clamouring for a chance to visit the mortals' realm that accompanied her other trips down this road, or it could be the pressure Principal Morningdew had put her under , maybe it was the fact that it was almost Hunting season for the Hunters in the mortal realm - her destination . The path just seemed longer.
She was a wreck of nerves; she had never seen a ghoul in action but she had heard from her principal what a hungry one could do to a six man team. She didn't want to admit it but she was scared. Even with their two hearts, Nelapsi could die.
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By the time clarity overcame her anxiety, she found herself in the inner side of a familiar ring-like grey building the size of the Roman coliseum in diameter. She stood at the edge of the circular open-space in it's embrace. It was empty and silent.
She looked above and weirdly felt relief to see those will-rain-will-not-rain clouds. Around her she could see that circular building. It was built with smooth grey stones; a flat roof of concrete that extended forward past the inner walls to rest on top of Doric style columns that bordered the open-space. Brown-polished gilded doors ran its whole circumference at regular intervals.
Otto knew what was behind those doors; Registry, Armouries, infirmaries, archives among other utility areas of the sort.
She quickly moved her attention to the small square building - not much bigger than a studio apartment - in the center of the ring's open-space, as equally undecorated as the grey ring building. Grey stones and all.
"The creativity here is still as amazing as I remember. Cheers to the guy who suggested the circle design. I can almost feel those sharp edges and angles at the academy stabbing me." The usual Otto was back. A sad lonely heart in a vibrant armour of sarcasm and fake cheer.
As consolation to the unattractive theme prevalent in the Portal Area, the young Guardian trainee knew what hid behind that small cubical grey building never failed to impress.
Knowing procedure, Otto needed no directives on what to do.
"Lets get some equipment first." the Nelapsi mumbled as she set off to her left from the entrance (a break in the ring which the cobbled path cut) where she had been having her scenery viewing moments.
Via the pavement between the columns and the wall with doors and to the first door Otto strode.
She held the knocker as bronze as the metal lining the brown door. She knocked thrice.
A red light flashed from one of the indicator bulbs above the door, permitting her entry.
Otto pushed the door and got in.
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Long corner to corner shelves of white oak lined the whole height of the three metres high walls. Every metre or so (vertically and horizontally) saw a warm light lamp mounted on its gray brown wood. The light shone on the glass doors of each segment of the shelves.
A wide assortment of trinkets and disguises could be seen behind the glass doors; Optical lenses, fake dental formulas, unbelievably human-like face masks, hands and ears only to name a few.
This was the Registry. Registration for exit from or return to the Underworld and Disguises to appear human was the job here.
Otto looked over to the clerical desk. A Burrowing Sprite sat behind it, still on its business like she wasn't there. These guys were a tough bunch to deal with.
"Okay let's get this over with." Otto thought, walking towards the Sprite like she would the sun.