Chapter 21: Chapter 21 ~ Maria Alucardia

The cold moonlight shone over the Dairy Lodge, betraying its season, a spring of warmth and care. For who would've thought, beneath this very night, a gathering of wickedness assailed the innocent? Its tenebrosity reigns deep; deep within the clutches of the chaotic rooftops of the Dairy Lodge, where skanks, street rats, and criminals lie aplenty. They once hide deep, beneath the light of the sun, on the street corners and the blind alleys; such was their place. However, winds of change brew throughout the district, bringing a certain doom for their kinds. Hence, they resorted to the rooftops, where the hands of justice wouldn't reach them. Oh, how wrong they were. If justice can't reach them, it will fly to them, here, within this gathering of wickedness.

Silence reigned, gripping the night. The vampire chief of the dairy lodge district was preparing its speech within the constraints of its avatar; flowery and redundant, mimicking human nobility, or was it the nobility who mimicked them? The latter version seemed more apt. It briefed the others of its kind that a human male with its mate ran around the Dairy Lodge, gaining followers with every single day that passed, making the very existence of their gatherings compromised, betrayed by the Dairy Lodge itself. They shook, they raged, and they moaned, for who wouldn't when their home was taken, ransacked, annihilated by others they deemed below them?

I observed. These blood suckers really thought they owned everything, huh? From the common people to the shady underbelly; all of them, their blood banks. Their narcissism truly knows no bounds, it's a far cry above their ancestors who served and revered the lifeblood, a staunch protector of life and nature; with a spirit which even the druids admired. A despairing thing indeed, that their descendants grew conceited and arrogant, losing their true blood in the process. Giving blood to a vampire, an act that signifies the vampire's prowess and value in their jobs or communities, that they were given blood by the people around them, they were truly the symbol of life. In those days, the vampires were spires of righteousness, for only those who were revered could partake in blood and sustain their lives.

Looking at their descendants right now, who was fussing over who gets which territory after they launched their attacks over Rivellon; truly disgusts me. Cold fury took over me. Instead of documenting and opening them up to more questions, I weaved words and conversations, explaining why certain vampires should get more blood banks, and why the others are lesser than them. I used their narcissistic nature to create chaos and conflict. I whispered sweet nothings, with honeyed words, so that the seeds of doubt began sprouting. Entranced, they began to shout loudly, like the flying monkeys they are, forgetting what they came here for. I gained the upper hand in the conversation, even scheduling the next meeting for the vampires. I ruled over them. I manipulate them. I owned them.

Calming myself down, I found myself being watched by both Ciel and my elder sister. Ciel who just facepalmed, and my elder sister, who dazedly looked at the empty air, still shocked by my harrowing machinations.

"Again?" Ciel simply asked.

"Again." I simply confirmed.

It was our secret that whenever I did some stunts like that, around someone I deem close, Ciel would be there as a follow-up for me. That's the way we've arranged so that others wouldn't mistake me as a devious schemer or manipulator.

"Elder sister-in-law? Are you okay?" Ciel asked.

She shook her head, "Yeah. Sorry, that whole spectacle just surprised me so much. Layne, where did you learn to do stuff like that?"

"Don't you know, elder sister? This guy's always good at talking. Why do you think he managed to court me?"

"I never knew he's that capable," Sarah sighed. She smiled, happy for her little brother, but also a little bitter on the inside, lamenting the fact she missed his change.

"Thanks," I whispered to my Dragonheart.

"You are welcome," She whispered back to her Verse-Creating Saint.

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The vampires are in disarray. Our ruler, Dracul, had vanished a long time ago; and in his place were dozens of vampire nobles, fighting for supremacy. Although it was rumoured that the Ruler hides deep within Rivellon. We were the ones who were tasked to find him, posted in the Dairy Lodge. Our search; nihil. Nothing came from the higher-ups for years, before suddenly we were saddled with a task. We who stayed loyal to our creed consented, and did what was required of us. However, within the Dairy Lodge, a voice of incredible persuasion echoed. A voice of freedom. It incited the barons and viscounts to fight amongst themselves; while leading those scattered wild vampires, who had attachments to the mortals and this place, to rebel and create a new order. This ethereal voice, unknown his face, nor known his whereabouts, was everpresent and omniscient. His reach went deep, deep beneath the very roots of the district. It's only been a week since he came here, but from the very day he arrived, it was all over. Our plans have been leaked, and our members are fighting amongst themselves. The district, entranced by him, fought against us who were already part of it, years before.

Orders came from the above. The Council of Elders, from their high and comfortable seats, tasked us with sabotaging the people's beliefs in the Carters. They want us to crash the festival, even killing civilians, at the expense of the Law of the Four Guardians sealing our strength, leaving us with no way out in return. Comparing that impossible task with the sweet lure of freedom, it's no wonder many chose to defect, becoming true residents of the Dairy Lodge district.

When did we stray from the path? The dispatched leader of the vampires asked herself.

Is this what our predecessors fought for in the great war? To be slaves to those higher-ranking vampires?

To be stepping stones for their so-called greater truth?

To risk the lives of our comrades for political gain?

I remembered.

I remembered what my grandfather once said to me. He, who once fought in the great war alongside the Verse-Creating Saint and his wife the Dragonheart.

What he said, I kept within me throughout the years, even after his death at the hands of the Council which he deeply cared for.

I repeated his tenets, which contradict the rules of the Council, "We are vampires. We live from the lifeblood of the people and we give back to the people in return. We defend them, and the world they live in. We give them peace and security, and they offered us their deepest gratitude. The very spring whence life sprouts from, their very blood. Lifeblood."

My name is Maria Alucardia, the granddaughter of the great hero Alucard, the leader of vampires within the Dairy Lodge district. I seek discussion with the voice of freedom.

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