Cacophony, the name itself meant a mixture of complete disorder, and yet in her arms, I felt an odd warmth. Perhaps that was merely due to my odd disposition, after all, I couldn't bring myself to freak out even in a situation such as this one. And yet just moments earlier, I was scared by some noises in a bush.
Pushing me off her, I nearly lost my balance and fell to the ground. It was then that the naked vampire seemed to mutter something under her breath. Suddenly threads from the cushioning that made up the inner lining of the coffin came floating through the air and wrapped themselves around her body. With a coordinated determination, the threads formed into a luxurious black dress with red and white accents.
If nothing else, Cacophony certainly was quite resourceful. She'd turned the coffin's gemstone into an assortment of smaller gems that were scattered around the dress. The threads even went up into her hair and fixed it up for her.
In no time at all her appearance matched that of a proper empress, though she seemed to add in a dash of modern flair. On that note, I had a question.
"Was it really only blood that you took?"
The wide-eyed look she gave me confirmed my suspicions.
"You're smarter than you look. You hide your amazement for the supernatural extremely well."
On that front, I had to give in. The magic and supernatural were one of my biggest interests. Of all the odd beliefs and conspiracies that exist, magic was one of the few I put my full backing behind. Now, seeing that magic was, in fact, real, I was completely and utterly elated. Not to mention the beautiful woman in front of me. Like a dream come true.
"Well, you're right, I took more than just your blood just now. Vampires are far more complex than you might expect. Firstly, we do require food to survive. By that I mean normal human food. That said, we can go without for quite some time. Our need for blood is slightly different. We drink blood to feed off a piece of the human soul. In this process, some aspects of the soul that we feed off are also consumed. For a skilled vampire such as myself, we can even gain information like language. That said, specific things like memories are off the table for a vampire, no matter the skill level."
"Is that so..."
I hadn't expected such a detailed answer. She also seemed delighted to tell me. On her face was a large grin and she even flailed her hands in the air to make it more dramatic. Likely, she'd never told a human information like this, maybe sharing a piece of herself, no matter how small, made her delighted. That may be getting into territory that was too speculative though.
In short, she simply liked to talk.
On the other hand, I got the impression that my over-the-top introduction went over better than I'd anticipated. As she stood in front of me, it was like she was a dog wagging its tail.
Through the shed's small window, I noticed a small light dart past. Was it a firefly? I don't think that we get any around here, but it's possible. Out of nowhere, Cacophony turned around and made her way out of the shed.
Her stride showed a great deal of excitement and experience. As I watched her back, it felt like all of my self-doubts were washed away.
Following behind her, I made my way outside. The night sky was filled with frantic, soaring lights dashing about from one place to the next. The myriad of different vibrant hues made it seem like I was watching some flashy sci-fi movie.
"Specters, huh? Shame, I was hoping we'd get at least one fully-fledged ghost among them."
"What's that supposed to mean? Specters and ghosts really exist?!"
"Come now, vampires can exist, but ghosts are a step too far?"
On that front as well, I couldn't argue. I resigned myself to watching the dashing lights in the sky once more. The once-dead graveyard seemed to come alive, I wonder if those who were laid to rest in this land were giving a warm welcome to the newly revived empress.
"Shall I show you some more magic? Something like this is child's play, so as my first servant of the new era, it'll be unbecoming of you to freak out too much."
"First servant?"
Cacophony extended both of her hands toward the sky. To my inexperienced mortal eyes, it didn't seem like she'd done anything special to them, but the movements of the specters began to change. Their rapid, random rampage throughout the night's open-air ceased. Soon they swirled about perfectly coordinated in a circle, slowly descending and pulling closer together. By the time they reached Cacophony's palms, they were packed tightly in a small orb of shimmering colors.
"These are merely the regrets of the deceased given spiritual form. You can think of them as lesser ghosts. Still, with this many packed together, it may be of some use. Take it."
With that, she forced that strange orb into my hands. The feeling wasn't what I had been expecting. While the orb itself was perfectly smooth, I could feel the bouncing rays of light within it dancing on my palm. If something like this were to explode...
Certainly, I was holding a dangerous item.
Glancing upward, the empress simply marched forward without a thought in the world. There wasn't an ounce of worry that adorned her face, despite being dropped into this unknown world.
"Hey... What's your plan anyway? Just gonna walk around and hope for the best?"
The empress regarded me with a look of confusion and bewilderment. Her perplexed expression contorted her beautiful features in a manner that even the greatest artist of our time wouldn't be able to capture. It left no room to be misconstrued as not being genuine.
"Obviously, for the foreseeable future, I shall be living with you. I shall also be relying on you to teach me much about this unknown world. Thus, I'm officially appointing you as my first servant in the modern era."
There's a popular trend in media to have a character begin drooling as they listen to someone's speech while not understanding a single word. I think at that moment, I understood what those characters were feeling.
The only reply that I could give to her statement was a thousand yard stare.
"Oh, I should let you know this now. I'll be taking back my empire from the humans. I'll conquer this land and destroy all who stand in my way."
There was a sinking feeling in my chest, I interpreted what she'd said in the most cowardly way possible.
"If that's the case... How many people would die?"
My question, which had seeped out of my lips by complete accident, was met with silence. No, that heavy silence was one far too thick for either of us to begin to approach.
I think that was when Cacophony got her first peek at who I truly was. At the moment though, she didn't wish to push the subject any further. She opened the rusty gate to the graveyard and waited for me to pass through.
"The human life is too short to be wasted away in a place like this. Let's go."
That excuse was all I needed to push the former topic to the edges of my mind.
"So... How'd you end up in a place like this?", I muttered.
"I could ask the same of you, how'd you end up here?"
Instead of simply answering my question, the empress elected to respond in a lightly cheeky voice.
Puffing up my chest, I answered with pride. "Well, if you must know, as I was returning home from negotiations, I spotted something odd on the ground and-"
"Odd? Like what?
"Blue cracks all over the ground. Anyway, I-"
"I see... I can assume that they led you to my coffin?"
"Oh, yeah, but anyway-"
"There's something else that I must do in this era."
Jesus! Will I ever get a chance to finish my story? We hadn't even got to when I made my escape from the dastardly beast cloaking itself in the bushes!
Cacophony continued, "On the day I was sealed, the strongest of humanity's forces had descended upon the vampiric capital. The fighting between the two sides had gotten fierce, it was the moment that would decide who would control the world. At that crucial moment, an unknown man made his way to my throne. I was unable to defeat him, and he sealed me away into that coffin."
There was a seriousness in her voice that she lacked before this moment.
"Veri, what year is it?"
"2024."
"The white man's calendar. It seems that they won, though that was within my expectations. Still, that means it's been nearly five hundred years since my time."
There was a hint of somber longing in her downward gaze, though she picked her head back up in no time at all, hiding all emotion. I wish that I could better resonate with others. If I could, then maybe I could've sympathized with her. I wish I could, I truly do, but as I looked at her sadness, I didn't feel much at all. It's been like this for as long as I can remember, I just can't resonate with others, perhaps I was simply born incapable of doing so.
I think, at that time, both of us were defective in a way. Both the empress and her servant.