Chapter 37: Chapter 36

With Abby being carried in its arms, Etrius and Keith walked the halls, disregarding Zen who was very much busy with warning as many people as she could of the arrival of a witch hunter. And Ethan who attempted to dissuade them from seeing Adriana. Etrius, being a ranger, outranked almost everyone here and was none too pleased with Abby being locked up. Keith, was a witch hunter and a bastard, in birth and in his actions, so most rules were at best suggestions. Navigating the halls under Abby’s direction, they quickly arrived at a familiar door. Without hesitation, Etrius knocked in a slightly obnoxious way.

 

“You, you alive?” Etrius asked.

“Is there a risk that she wouldn’t be?” Keith asked.

“You can never be certain.” Etirus shrugged.

“Mom!” Abby called out.

“Just a minute.” Adriana said, immediately opening the door.

 

Standing in the dark of her room Adriana looked exactly normal, except for the fact that she had silver hair and a thick fur covered silver tail. Also, there were the jagged obsidian like horns growing out of her head that seemed like they were absorbing the surrounding light. In fact, things around her seemed duller, or was it that she simply looked amazing? Aside from that, she looked mostly the same. Well, she may have been a bit taller, but Etrius couldn’t tell for certain.

 

“Abby dear, my beloved darling.” Adriana greeted both Abby and Etrius.

“So, you have a tail.” Etrius said. “That's nice.”

“Furry.” Keith said, pointing at Etrius.

“I don’t think she goes far enough for me to be considered that.” Etrius said.

“Are you not bothered with being called a furry?” He asked.

“I’m not though?” Etrius said.

“Forgive me, but do you mind introducing us?” Adriana asked.

“He’s Keith, Dad’s friend!” Abby said.

“Greetings, I’m a witch hunter.” Keith said.

“Oh.” Adriana said. “You may leave.”

“We aren’t- most of us-” Keith hesitated. “No, we’re all that bad.”

“He’s nice.” Abby said.

“Don’t encourage him dear.” Adriana said, patting her head.

“Well, given that the dark age is over, Keith here says that some sort of suspicious magic will happen here, and he’s going to look into that.” Etrius said.

“Suspicious magic?” Adriana asked. “Is a witch here?”

“What’s a witch?” Abby asked.

“A witch is someone who can use magic.” Keith said. “Specifically a human.”

“Can I be a witch?” Abby asked.

“I don’t think you count as a human.” He said.

“I wanna use magic.” Abby said.

“Don’t we all?” Etrius shrugged.

“I can use magic.” Adriana said.

“You can?” Abby asked, amazed.

“Bear witness.” Adriana said.

 

Holding out her hand, which only then did they realize that she had long sharp nails, a small change happened. The light around her hand slowly started turning into a red haze. As this happens, a series of clicks increasing in speed came from Etrius, warning of radiation. Not knowing this, Abby, Keith, and Ethan looked at Etrius for answers.

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Etrius said.

 

Used to this behavior, Abby and Keith looked back at the red haze, which disappeared, along with the clicking. Ethan, who was still confused, lost the timing to ask about it.

 

“What did that do?” Abby asked.

“I don’t know.” Adriana lied. “Though it feels warm.”

“Well, that’s not the strange magic that I was looking for, so I don’t care.” Keith said.

“Well that’s good.” Etrius said. “So when do you think this witch will appear?”

“I’m not sure if a witch will appear, all I know is that a strange type of magic will happen here.” Keith said.

“Do you witch hunters always work on unreliable information?” Ethan asked.

“It’s more information than we usually have.” He admitted.

“That doesn’t surprise me.” Etrius said.

“Wait, so I have a lot of questions.” Ethan said. “Firstly, what exactly is a witch and how are they different from people who can use magic?”

“Well, witches use some spells of speakable heresy and people can simply use magic.” He said, as if it was obvious.

“That explains nothing.” Ethan said.

“That’s the best we’re going to get.” Etrius said.

“You can’t be serious.” Ethan said.

“What’s heresy?” Abby asked.

“Don’t encourage him.” Etrius said. “We’ll be here all day.”

“Now we wouldn’t want that.” Adriana said. “By the way, Darling, you are going to house Abby for a time.”

“Fine by me.” Etrius said.

“I can stay over!?” Abby asked excitedly.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Ethan said.

“It’s much better than you locking her up in her room for days on end.” She said.

“That was-” Ethan started.

“Be quiet.” She ordered.

“I’m gonna go.” Keith said, taking a step back. “I don’t want to get involved in this.”

“Yeah, Abby, let’s go get your things.” Etrius said.

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“Okay!” She said happily.

 

Very quickly heading to Abby’s room, with Keith following for some reason, Etrius heard some words that it would rather Abby not hear. Nearing it, they spotted splinters and tears in the carpet which resembled Abby’s claws. Seeing the state of her door, it was obvious of what happened.

 

“Did you do this?” Keith asked.

“Yeah…” She said shyly.

“You’re not hurt anywhere are you?” Etrius asked, starting to worry for her.

“I’m good.” She said, showing her clawed hands, free from harm.

 

Her claws, though short, were sharp enough and sturdy enough to tear through wood, and her armored hands did seem to protect her. Though that was good, how long did she have to be locked in here for her to be this desperate to break out? Given what Etrius knew of her past life, it was surprising that she didn’t do it sooner.

Looking at her, Etrius saw that she seemed to be more embarrassed by the mess she made rather than what happened to her. Making sure to treat her with a nice dinner tonight, Etrius entered the room to begin packing her things. In all honesty, there was no real reason to pack anything, as she already had plenty of things at Etrius’ house. However, considering what happened and knowing Adriana, it was best to keep her away from this place for a time.

Abby, seemingly forgetting about the door, quickly grabbed several things. Most of them were toys, but she also properly got a few sets of clothes, and some comfortable looking pajamas. As she did so, Keith took it upon himself to look around the room, despite not being invited to. Etrius took the liberty to stab him in the chest three times when Abby wasn’t looking. He made a weird noise, causing Abby’s antenna to twitch, but she ignored it.

 

“Right, well…” Keith said, getting the idea. “I should go out and introduce myself to the town’s folk.”

“Try not to cause them any trouble.” Etrius said.

 

Giving a weak wave with one hand and clutching his chest with his other, Keith stumbled out of the room. Only now feeling that it was safe to, Abby turned to see Etrius packing her things away in one of her bags. Ignoring the suspiciously smelling red drops on the carpet, Abby brought a pair of slippers to Etrius. She couldn’t actually wear them properly but she thought that it was worth trying anyway. Not only that, but she brought a few dolls, including one of the ones that Etrius made for her. Seeing her smile as she held it, Etrius decided to make a better one for her birthday, in addition to her other presents of course. 

As it thought this, a voice inside its head wondered if it spoiled her, but the rest rejected that idea. As soon as Etrius packed away the last of Abby’s things, it picked her up and carried her out of the room. Down the hall, they saw Adriana was still lecturing Ethan, who was looking weak in the knees. Deciding not to bother them, Etrius walked past them, but Abby had a different idea.

 

“Bye bye mom.” Abby said.

“Goodbye sweetheart, goodbye darling.” Adriana smiled. “Please take care.”

“You too.” Etrius said, giving her a quick kiss.

 

Not wanting to stick around and give Abby the opportunity to learn some bad words, Etrius left. She probably already knew a few from her time on Earth, but they’ll cross that bridge when they get there. Walking out, with Abby in it’s arms and uncomfortable looks from the servants and guards. Though Abby tried to ignore this, she couldn't help but shrink in Etrius’ arms. Seeing her like this, Etrius wondered the best way to cheer her up.

Walking down the street, they got many odd looks which Abby tried to hide from. Etrius however did nothing to help this. For better or worse, Abby was stuck in this form. Hiding her would only delay that matter. This moment, at the start of the dark age, was probably the best time to reveal her true form. This was a time of great change. People can suddenly start to use magic, ships can fly in the sky, monsters will start to appear, and eventually demons will invade the world. A person changing was nothing new. Well, someone with Abby’s sudden change was rare, but not unheard of. Some people even changed into vampires or werewolves. Though for some odd reason, many of the previously recorded instances of vampires were furries, so there's that. Speaking of vampires, Etrius saw one right now.

Stumbling on the side of the road, under the shade of an umbrella was a very pale looking woman with red hair. She had one hand on the wall to support her, and a paper bag in the same hand as her umbrella, she looked as if she was about to throw up. Oh my, she just did. Collapsed to her knees and dropped her umbrella too. That sucks. Feeling sorry for the poor thing, Etrius moved to help her. Picking up her umbrella, Etrius covered her in its shade. Despite being in the sunlight for only a few seconds, Etrius could already see sunburns on her exposed skin. Wiping the vomit from her mouth with her sleeve, she spoke in a strained voice.

 

“Thank you…” She muttered.

“Vampirism.” Etrius said. “Last I’ve seen it was in the capital, some years ago.”

“Supposedly it runs in the family…” She said, picking herself up. “It skips a generation…”

“So I’ve heard.” It said.

 

Using the wall as support, she looked to see who her savior was.

 

“Ah…” She said. “Ranger Washington… Young Abigail…”

“Samantha…?” Abby cautiously called, looking over.

 

Despite her sickly state, Samantha did her best to bow, but gave up not even half way through. She felt and looked like shit. No one could blame her for giving up. Etrius sure didn't.

 

“Sorry I’ve been…” She had to take a deep breath. “Being absent… I was told to take some time off…”

“Are you okay…?” Abby couldn't help but ask.

“I’ll be fine in a… a few days…” She said.

“And what are you doing out here?” Etrius asked. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“Sorry. I needed to pick up some medicine…” She said, showing her paper bag.

“Couldn’t you have it delivered?” It asked.

“I forgot to add it to the list…” She sighed. “How have you been…?”

 

Though she was talking to Etrius, it was clear that the question was meant for Abby. Even in her sick state, she could see that Abby was no longer human.

 

“Has my substitute been treating you well…?” She asked.

“I uh…” Abby wasn’t sure how to tell her.

“Since she changed, her mom decided that she should spend some time with me as a precaution.” Etrius said, not lying.

“I see…” She said. “It’s good to spend some time with… with your father…”

“Yeah!” Abby said, troubled.

“If you excuse me…” She took a deep breath. “I need to be home for the… for the blood delivery…”

“Try not to push yourself.” Etrius said, handing her back her umbrella.

“Ah, peace and safety.” Abby waved.

“Thank you…” She gave a weak smile.

 

Taking the umbrella, Samantha headed back to her house with slow steps. Out of worry, the two couldn’t help but watch her go.

 

“Pig blood…” She muttered. “Grandpa always hated it…”

 

Pig blood. The unpopular substitute to human blood. For vampires, the difference between the two was like night and day. Due to their nature, the blood couldn’t be prepared in a way that might make it taste good. It had to be drunk as is, or with some spice. Unable to even drink it with alcohol, they were an unfortunate bunch. Hopefully, for her sake, there would be some human blood donors to help with her plight. Adriana and Abby couldn’t do it because they were no longer human, and Etrius couldn’t because Etrius was Etrius and nothing more.

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