Milas started to move his fingers and they weakly wrapped into a fist. His eyes were still closed and he wasn't in a rush to open them as he took slow breaths. The pain had vanished and he currently felt like he was floating in a warm liquid. The place was shallow as his back touched the ground while a small part of his chest was exposed to the gentle breeze. Milas finally decided to open his eyes to see how the afterlife looked like.
The first thing he noticed was the orange tint in the sky, signifying that it was sunset. There were a few red clouds drifting silently across the sky. Milas saw something dark at the edge of his vision. He slowly lifted his body up to a sitting position and what he saw was not what he expected of the afterlife.
The first thing was that he was laying in a pool of blood. The crimson liquid was all around him but Milas noticed something strange. There was no smell. He was sitting in a pool of the stuff but there was nothing affecting his nose. Milas could only shrug and accept that the afterlife was truly weird. He stood up and saw that he was wearing the academy uniform. The clothes were clean despite the fact that he had been laying in blood.
"So this is vampire heaven? It's weird but quiet, I could stay in this place." Milas didn't know why he was there but he quickly came to terms with the fact that he had been killed. "It wasn't the worst way to die but I can't believe I died a virgin. Well, can't complain when I got into heaven. Even if it's not, the silence is still nice."
Milas decided to check out the afterlife he had gotten into. The place was an endless plain of short grass and shifting mountains far off in the distance. There were countless pools of blood littered across the place but there were no bodies or signs of a battle. The blood pools looked to be completely natural. Milas turned around and saw it in its full glory.
A magnificent tower made of black rock looked like a sword from a deity that attempted to stab the world. It stood proud with a wide, crown like top that reached high above the reach of the red clouds. There were red crystalline patterns on its surface that resembled giant feathers. The tower was beyond all of Milas' wildest dreams and he stood in awe of its excellence. He eventually recovered when his mouth felt parched after hanging open for too long.
"Maybe I can find out where I am if I go there? Who am I kidding, I would be stupid not to explore that place." Milas decided to head to the tower but the ground beneath him suddenly disappeared. He sunk into the blood pool which was now infinitely deep. Milas saw red for a second before his vision cleared and he opened his eyes to a different scene. A huge wall covered his vision as he now stood in the shade of the tower, a few steps away from it.
Milas hurriedly left the pool before anything else could happen. He didn't know how he was suddenly near the tower but he wasn't going to leave now that he was close. He could see a gigantic set of crystal doors that were partially opened. Milas walked towards the door without hesitation and noticed light coming from the inside. He was surprised by how brave he had suddenly become. He pushed the door open wider before walking in.
Milas was now inside the tower and it looked like he had returned to the academy training hall. The place was expansive with the main color being red. The floor had an alternating checkered pattern of black and red tiles. Milas saw another door at the opposite side of the hall and made his way towards it. He reached the center of the hall that had an enormous, circular, crystal tile. Milas was walking across it when it shone brightly, blinding Milas.
His eyes recovered and the scenery had changed again. Milas was now in the middle of another hall. This one didn't have a ceiling and the orange sky was all Milas could see above him. He was about to start looking for a door when his body lost strength and fell. Milas didn't know what happened to him but he was now laying on the ground while staring at the sky.
"You really are pathetically weak. My aura is already restricted and you're still losing on the ground." A deep beastly voice came from somewhere beyond Milas' field of view. Milas felt the strength in his body return and he shot to his feet while looking in the direction of the voice. He saw a huge black throne that made him wonder how he had missed it before.
On the throne was a man, or what Milas assumed to be a man as he had features that clearly set him apart. The most obvious thing were the wings with sharp and straight crimson feathers. The other was his black hair that was burning with a smokeless red flame that didn't seem to harm him in any way. His brown pupils would constantly shine red and his face was disturbingly handsome. He was wearing a red, sleeveless crystal armour with the chest piece being see through.Milas was awed by the man's majesty.
"Close your mouth, I don't need the looks of awe from a being like you." The man spoke in the deep and beastly voice that Milas had heard before. The voice was also strangely familiar to Milas. It took him a second before he finally remembered.
"You're the one that helped me back in Deogratius' mansion. You're my guardian devil." Milas couldn't believe that he was actually real. He thought that he had hallucinated everything due to the pain he underwent. "How are you real? And what is this place?"
"I'm real and alive no thanks to you. And this place is my Subconscious Domain. You are here because you almost died and I had to save you." The man looked to be annoyed with Milas but he didn't care.
"How am I alive when I remember being stabbed more times than a vampire can handle? And what the heck is a Subconscious Domain?" Milas was desperate now that he had learnt that he wasn't dead. He may have accepted the fact that he died but finding out that he was alive gave him hope. His life wasn't the best but he still wanted to keep living.
"You shouldn't even be here in the first place, at least not this early. The best way to explain it is to start from the beginning of everything." The man said and his eyes glowed red for longer than before. A plain chair made of red crystal rose from the ground near Milas. The man gestured for Milas to sit and he immediately obeyed. The man gave Milas a greater sense of fear than Deogratius ever did. Milas sat motionless as the chair moved closer to the raised throne stopping below the steps.
"Let me introduce myself, I am Vandelorian The Crimson but you can call me Van. I am the only Crimson Vampiric Phoenix, one of the rarest phoenix types. I've had the misfortune of becoming bonded to you after you got turned by prince Octavian. Long story short, I am now stuck to you until you die. I have inadvertently become your soul beast but our situation is very delicate.
My previous host's death led to me losing a lot of energy and your body wasn't in the best condition. I can't really tell you much since you won't understand anything so I'll give you some basic instructions. I can make you the most powerful vampire since the existence of the originals but there are a few conditions.
One, you need to keep my existence a secret since I have enemies that can kill you with their aura alone. Two, the thing you did in the mines with the mana crystals is good and you should do it often. Three, I will communicate with you mentally from time to time so follow my advice if you wish to live. To sum it up, you provide me with energy through mana crystals and I will help you with getting stronger." The man finished his story and Milas was deep in thought.
"How do I know that you're not lying?" Milas decided to ask the question even when he knew that it might piss off the man. The man smiled slightly before replying.
"You must be confused. You mistook my kind tone for you having a choice in the matter." The fire on the man's head flickered a little before settling down. "I think it's time that you return to the world."
The man stood from the throne and spread the wings wide. He stretched them a bit and flapped lightly causing a strong breeze to ram into Milas. "If you thought that I lied about my enemies then you're wrong. Their aura could kill you as easily as mine will."
Milas had no time to process the words as his body turned soft and his eyelids heavy before darkness filled his vision.