Legend Blood [FINISHED, please lock/PG-13/IC] *remake*

[Piercer of the Heavens]

"What!?" Luis screamed as he went from a laying down position to a sitting one. He quickly held his upper left chest. He looked around to see that he was laying in a bed, sheets laid above his legs. As he looked around more he saw that he was inside what looked like a little girls room. "What the-" he was interrupted by the door on the opposite side of the bed slightly open, making a screeching sound in the process. Someone could be seen peeping through the small opening made, a girl to be more exact.

"Mommy!" the little girl screamed. "He's awake!" The little girl swung the door all the way open and ran away. A few seconds later a much older women, she looked around her late twenties, early thirties. "Oh your finally awake." she said with a smile. "I'm amazed a human like you could survive a wound like that."

"Human?" Luis questioned. "Are you not." The woman smiled and nodded no. "Then why rescue me." Luis said. "How did you rescue me as a matte of fact. Last thing I remember was being in a secret tunnel leading from the castle to outside the city. There's no way you could have rescued me from there."

"We didn't" she responded. "Me and my daughter were walking when we found you unconscious near the castle. You had some weird glowing armor, resembling that of a king, but as soon as my little girl touched you, it vanished."

"She's the one who found me?" Luis spoke cutting her off.

"Yes, she saw you first. She didn't know what you were at first, but soon realized that you weren't a pile of shiny metal. To be honest she doesn't even know that vampires and humans are different beings. She think that we are all vampires."

"Ah, the innocence of that child. Not judging people based on labels. If only the world could be like her."

"That's why I rescued you."

"What do you mean?" Luis responded with a tone of confusion.

"Since we were close we could hear all the ruckus that was going on in the castle. i guessed that you were one of the humans that are trying to take down the king. You see I just want a world of peace for my little girl, and the only way is to defeat our king."

"But I am a mere human. How do you expect me to make a difference?"

"It only takes one to change the world." She smiled and began walking out of the room, leaving a cup of water on a desk nearby. "You don't need to worry about how long you're here. My husband may hate humans, but he's out fighting and won't be back until the war is over."

"Thank you." Luis responded bowing his head. "And I promise, I'll do everything in my power to let your little girl have some peace. I won't let you down." The woman smiled and walked out the door, closing it in the process. "Now how did I get out." Luis said as he laid back down. "And what armor that resembles that of a king. I don't have any like that." At that moment an old man appeared next to him. "What the-" Luis was interrupted by the man who put his hand on Luis' mouth, not allowing him to talk.

"Yes, it's me from all those years ago." the old man said in a frail voice. "I might as well explain what happened. But first you must know something about your armor magic. You see every person that uses this type of magic can use all the same armors, all but one. each person has their own unique armor, which also comes with a manifestation. Its own personality and everything. In this case, I'm yours. And i saved you by activating your own personal armor and controlling it myself while you were unconscious. It is hard, so i was only able to get you outside of the castle before i couldn't control it anymore. I did my best and it was enough luckily."

"Well thank you then." Luis responded. "But why go through all that to rescue me."

"Like I said last time. Your job is to help bring peace to this world, and your job isn't finished yet." With that the old man vanished. The woman then opened the door. "Are you okay, I heard talking."

"Oh, just thinking out loud." Luis responded.

"Well stop and get some rest, you need it if you want to keep your promise."

[Merci]

[color=brown]"Mi'lord, if you don't mind me asking..."[/color] A nurse hesitated, checking up one last time on the wounds on the Vampire Lord's body. They were severe enough to last several months, yet somehow they were healing up within less than twelve hours...that wasn't the important bit. The important bit was how did he suffer so much damage that he had to rest in a medical unit? This was what the nurse had wanted to ask.

[color=darkred]"Do you want to die?"[/color] Lord Elnaer warned, the bruising all over his body, external AND internal, having become no more than gray patches hardly noticeable with his pale skin.

[color=brown]"O- o- of course n- not."[/color] The nurse stammered.

---------------------------------------------------

It was 11 AM, and the illusion would wear off sometime around midnight, meaning everyone had only around thirteen to fifteen hours left until that time to reach the Vampire Lord's castle. He had no doubt that some had already reached their destination, the second warehouse. He himself was already close by to it, though still somewhat far.

The housings of Nuevida were mostly decorated with jewelry, rubies and the such. The city was known to have easy access to such expensive items, and the ingenuity of vampires only made it that much easier to get them. Although there WERE quite a few vampire households that were not unlike ordinary humans' ones; made of wood, simple-structured, one-floored. But those kind of housings were quite rare. The streets themselves were perfectly paved, compared to the 'bumpiness' of whatever streets humans called their own. The very city itself spoke of how advanced and superior it was to all humans, and it wasn't very surprising at all to know that Lord Elnaer resided here.

The castle-palace was not too far away. It looked like a castle from one angle, and a palace from another, which tends to confuse a lot of people. It was the largest structure in the entire city in terms of mass, around eight to ten stories high, though there were more than a few towers taller than it.

Suddenly, a patrol guard stumbled by drunkenly, a bottle of reddish blood in his hands, easily tipping onto the streets, of what kind he wasn't quite able to identify whether it was a human's or just a mere animal's. Even so, he winced at the sight and hoped that someone else would come along and stop him in his drunken tracks, before going back along on his merry way.

[Thranduil]

Glan stood up. The healing energy surrounding his body had vanished. The sun had set and people had gone home. [color=#ff8c00]"Hmm, must be a curfew.[/color] [color=#8b4513]Well that is not surprising the vampire empire is a military dictatorship if nothing else. People are probably told that they have to remain in doors after a certain time. If not the punishments are usually very severe in places like this. [/color][color=#ff8c00]Dictatorship, hmm sounds interesting." [/color]As if on cue a drunken guard stumbled out of a bar with a bottle of blood in his hand.

[color=#0000ff]"H-ess-y, you th-ess-re. Go h-ess-ome, y-ess-our not sssuposssed to be out."[/color] (Hey, you there. Go home, your not supposed to be out.)

[color=#daa520]"Tich, pathetic fool, you have just chosen a bad time to talk to me in a commanding tone." [/color]Glan drew his sword, walked over to the guard and sliced his throat. As the guard fell over dying Glan slipped silently into the night, vanishing in a dark alley way.

[Love of Ghibli]

It was 11 AM and it was quickly approaching the heavy lunch hour. Word of the delicious meat pies had spread around town like the plague and vampires were lining out the door to feast on their brethren. This amused Clarice as she watched as her girls were simply making money hand over fist to serve up this heeping helping of cruel irony. Well it wasn't really ironic it was just cruel. However she did find herself taking the ever cautious stroll to go precure more "meat" as it were. Using her lightning speed magic and her close proximity to the castle she was able to make quick work of a couple of guards and drag them back to the shop relatively unnoticed. One could never be to careful for the lunch hour as well.

The door opened and the and the first group of customers came in like a weird combination of pompous aristocrats and crackheads. Clearly they had heard word of the great meatpies but they didn't deign show their faces in this common place. Ahhh they're nobility Clarice thought. Not high class royal blood Vampires like Lord psycho blast and or the arc of treason that works with the humans but maybe politicians or something similar. These beast took their seats with their noses in the air and it put everyone in a foul mood. Even Ebony Thunder who in the basement wringing out intestine and bladders making haggis could feel the attitudes of the elite up above. Maybe more "meat" was about to find its way down to be prepared. You know what tehy say the fresher the better.

[color=#800080]Girl?[/color] One of the elites called out to the No 4.[color=#800080] I want one of those...pies..my servants have been whipering about...Well what are you still doing here hop to it. [/color]She clapped her hands defiantly as she looked at her collegues and snickered.[color=#800080] Oh the common people what would they do without us. [/color]No. 4 went on her marry way while No. 5 sat the vampires down at booth. Sadly none of the vampires could sense the bloodrage oozing out from the booth behind them as Clarice was dolled up to look like a high class patron (with an afro) and she was doing her best to restrain herself. Within seconds No.4 came to the aristocratic table with their meat pies and a smile on her face everyone quietly watched as the pompous fanged ones ate their own kind and as they slowly lost composure because the food was just that good, not to mention this little batch was spiked with human blood.[color=#800080] Well I do say for common people you sure can prepare a pie. You must come and cook for us at the palace, I am sure Lord Elaneor would be pleased with this meal. [/color]The snooty wench and her two elite stooges left the establishment assuming that their presence and recommendation were more than enough compensation for this dining establishment.

As the door closed it was as if a chorus of angels had come down from the heavens as everyone's including Ebony Thunder, who had their ears to the door listening, faces lit up with bright elation as operation Sexy Coffee was going oh so smoothly. The ladies were busy congratulating each other when they noticed their fearless leader not say anything and then they looked over to her booth. Clairice's smile was that of insanity as if the gates of Ragnorak were going to open soon and she would now get to partake in a glorious blood filled battle for all of eternity. Her soldiers are ready, her strategy is flawless, her blades are sharp, and as an added bonus she managed to find a way to solve her unemployment and vampire problem in one go. Two birds with one stone and making some money out of it. The only thing she could do now was [color=#ff8c00]MWAHAHAHAHAH MWAHAHAHAHA MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!![/color]

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Iron finally managed to find the sigil denoting that the entrance to the Rebel's hideout. As usual, there was quite a large alleyway which lead inevitably an access hatch which would drop those knowledgeable of the groups' whereabouts into the hideout. He slipped into the alleyway and reached into the pouches he had been carrying with him since the warehouse and extracted first his gauntlets, sliding them onto his bare hands, and then his helm which he placed firmly, upon his head. Despite how the sun had risen, the alley was sufficiently high-walled that it was almost as black as night within so anyone whose eyes had become accustomed to the light outside of it would not be capable of seeing within.

He soon came to the hatch which lead beneath the streets and a smirk came to his face. The best thing about the rebels was that everyone kept their connection with them a secret, so were they to go out walking about on the streets no one would recognize them for who they were. Putting that out of his mind for now, he stooped down and pulled the hatch open, gladdened to hear that the hinges had been greased sufficiently so as to make opening them quiet. He heard the sounds of an argument down within and shook his head, before he dropped down through the hatch, letting it slam shut above him. He then made his way out of the small room into which it had dropped him and into the main room of the rebel hideout.

[color=#008000]"We don't have the necessary equipment to pull off- IRON!" [/color]What had been an argument suddenly turned into a massive joyous outburst at the sight of their lost friend. Looking around, he could easily see that every rebel in the city was there, nearly filling the massive subterranean chamber. Speaking of the chamber, it wasn't one Iron had known existed. It appeared to be some sort of large auditorium with seating for nearly a thousand, and even half-full it was a testament to the strength of the rebel movement in Nuevida. He gradually made his way down from where he stood, at one of the upper level entrances, and down onto the stage so that he could address them all.

"My friends," He began, speaking in a loud voice which almost didn't need amplification, "As you can see I have escaped my imprisonment. That is not all I have accomplished. I arrived in the city today in the company of the humans' own militant movement against Elnaer. They plan to make an assault on his palace at midnight tonight, and I assured them that you would offer your support."

There was a great deal of silence for a time, as the rebels seemed to have been struck dumb by what he had said. He looked around and inwardly sighed, feeling that they had decided not to assist.

[color=#800000]"Death to Elnaer! Freedom for the Vampire race!"[/color] Someone cried out in the back, heralding the sound of thunderous applause and shouts of agreement. Iron nodded his head in approval as the room practically shook with the sound of five hundred voices calling for Elnaer's blood. He quickly tore his robe off, figuratively not literally, and threw it to the ground before he raised his hands and silenced them all. Over the next several minutes he explained to them the plan, where they were to meet, that the Humans were currently disguised as vampires, and that they should listen to Vohn, or John once he was human again, as far as how they should be deployed. Once that was done, the lot of them got to work with equipping everyone appropriately. Most of them wore a suit of Lamellar armor designed to protect them from bullets and sword blows alike, and carried a flintlock rifle of some sort. As far as melee weapons, there was as much variance in what they wielded as there were weapons to be carried in one hand but they all carried thick steel plated shields. Once they were all appropriately equipped, they began to leave the auditorium to make their way towards the warehouse which the humans would be meeting up at later. They left in small groups, and from many different exits connected to the chamber. Iron smiled as he realized just how much help this lot would be to the humans, and hoped that the humans would know better than to try killing them. Truth be told there were several times what he had anticipated their numbers being, and that would be an advantage.

He then made his way back to the entrance he had gone through, and climbed back out into the dark alley. He once more removed his helm and gauntlets before he made his way towards a location, the way to which he was uncertain how he knew. The laboratory of the scientist who had made him and whom he had been mistaken for.

[Piercer of the Heavens]

Luis laid peacefully on the bed, sleeping of course. That is until the sound of crying pierced the air. Luis’ good nature took over. He quickly awoke and ran to the door, but before he could open it the door shot towards Luis, sandwiching him against the wall. Once on the floor Luis pushed the door off of him, only to take a sword to the chest. Luis screamed do to the pain. A silhouette of a man stood in front of him, laughing. He grabbed Luis by his head and dragged him to what seemed to be the living room.

“Finally found you vampire fiend.” The man said.

“Vampire wh-“Luis said before getting punched in the face.

“Shut up!” the man screamed. “It’s time you suffered. How else than watching your wife get beaten.”

“My what?” Luis responded.

“I said shut up!” The man screamed before punching Luis again. He then turned Luis to the left, were the[url="http://th08.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2012/098/e/f/mother_by_naimane-d4vgb4a.png"] woman[/url] from before was getting beaten by two other men. Luis was being held in place by only one man, but for some reason he could not move.
“Bring her in as well.” The man screamed.

In came another man holding the [url="http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs29/f/2008/182/c/0/little_lady_by_Joysuke.jpg"]daughter[/url] by the head, keeping airborne and facing the woman. The daughter was crying for her mother while she watched her get beaten. She clawed at the man’s hands to try to escape and go to her mother’s side, but she just couldn’t. Her tears dripped to the floor, each one crushing Luis’ heart more and more. “Stop!” Luis screamed at the top of his lungs, “Please Stop!” The men continued, only laughing as they watched the three of them suffer. Tears began to run down Luis’ face as he continued to watch. “Please… stop.” Luis’ voice grew weaker and weaker as he realized that he couldn’t do anything. “Please…”

[hr]

“I’m sorry, just a little more.” The woman said as she sat next to Luis, who was laying on the bed. He was shaking his head violently and was screaming as well. “Just a little more.” The woman continued. Her hands hovered over Luis’ chest, were his wound was located. Her hands were glowing an ominous purple. A few minutes of this passed until her hands stopped glowing. Within seconds of this Luis awoke, going from a laying position to a sitting position in a blink of an eye. He violently looked at his surroundings, until locking eyes with the woman. He quickly hugged her.

“You’re okay.” He said with tears on his face. “Thank god you’re okay.” His hug got a slightly bit tighter.

“I’m sorry.” The woman said. “But it was the only way that I could help you.”

“What are you talking about?” Luis responded as he ended his hug and sat on the bed.

“Well… you see I have the ability to heal.” Luis checked his chest, only to realize that he was no longer injured. Only a scar could be seen where his wound was. He then looked at the woman as she continued her explanation. “But it only works when the one who needs healing is sleeping. It’s a trade-off. My healing abilities, known as Cursed Healing, speeds up the natural healing process so much that it can heal wounds that would normally take years to heal in a few hours. But the one who is being healed will suffer terrible nightmares, probably the worst that they will experience in their life. I know it was without your conse-“

“Thank you.” Luis interrupted.

“What?” the woman said.

“I said thank you.” Luis said with a smile. “For everything you’ve done. Just forget I had a nightmare and pretend you healed me with no negative side-effects.” The woman smiled and stood up.

“Well the food is ready so whenever you’re ready come to the kitchen.” As soon as she opened the door the daughter came running in and hugged the woman.

“I heard screaming and was scared” she said.

“It’s okay” the woman reassure her. “Now get ready to eat.” With that the daughter was gone. “By the way, my name is Arael, and my daughter’s is Capella. What may yours be?”

“Luis, Luis Vernon.” He responded.

“Well Luis you better hurry if you want to eat.” Arael said before leaving the room.

[Merci]

[color=darkred]"Where is that Kaname?"[/color] Elnaer asked himself, with an irritated look on his face.

He had sent out a couple of messengers to call for him, but so far there had been no reply. No doubt he was difficult to find. It was a shame that the Vampire Lord didn't know where that lab of his was, for if he did, then things would be so much simpler. But unfortunately such a thing as 'simpleness' didn't exist. Like, eradicating the humans, which simply was not simple in any simple way whatsoever, simply enough.

By now, he had fully healed from the damage that had been dealt to his body, more or less, and had returned back to his throne room. The grass, fully covering the entire marble floor, was of a stained bloody red. The exact same color as the hybrid's blood.

[color=brown]"Hey, mi'lord!"[/color] A random aristocratic voice called out suddenly, bursting into the hall. Elnear's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

[color=darkred]"What is it, Xaveder?"[/color]

[color=brown]"There is this [i]thing[/i] that you've really got to try! It's a kind of pie...some sort of meatpie....and it tastes better than anything else I've ever had in my whole life!!!"[/color]

[color=darkred]"...Oh?"[/color] Elnaer closed his eyes and thought to himself. It didn't take long for him to come up with a decision, and a small grin formed on his face. [color=darkred]"Very well then....I will send a servant of mine to go and collect two of these so-called 'meatpies'."[/color]

------------------

Around half an hour later, a servant guy - clad in golden clothing and large amounts of jewelry mostly diamonds - had arrived at the place where Clarice and the others were currently doing 'Operation Sexy Coffee'.

[color=maroon]"Uhhh...the great noble Vampire Lord Lord Elnaer - may he live a long long life and succeed in his quest to purge all humans - has requested two of the famous meatpies that you have been making."[/color]

Although he was clad heavily in expensive items, it was only temporary, since he had been commanded to use what he wore as payment. He hadn't actually wanted to do this and had planned on running away, but the problem was the patrol guards, they would notice if a jewel-packed servant was running across the streets and regard him straightaway as a thief. And then he would be executed. Which sucked.

[Love of Ghibli]

Operation Sexy Coffee was underway and the girls were getting suited up to make their way into the castle of course this part of the plan required a little amount of stealth and slight espionage but that wouldn't be too hard if you kept Clarice and her Ebony Thunder bodyguards quiet for a little while. The girls of Ebony Thunder had finished decorating themselves in the guards armor. But it was then that this male vampire decked in the most expensive of regalia walked through the door. Hearts stopped for a second as this was not according to plan, Clarice almost turned the beast into the very meat pies he came to order. For some magic reason, most likely her body not used to the sudden shift of going from pure ecstatic elation to murder mode so quickly, her body froze and she did not kill this mortal standing before her. Luckily she was able to hear him out and the marvelous news he would bring.

Once again her bloodlust was tangible, she had to grip her chest because she literally could not handle all excitement. It was then that she was able to cultivate a new plan that still went with Operation Sexy Coffee this would just move things along a lot quicker. [color=#ffd700]We'll be glad to[/color] No. 1 spoke seemingly assuming the role of the one in charge and like ninjas the girls dispersed to make a couple of pies for the king. Of course these pies had a special ingredient, human blood, if everyone likes rum cookies or hash brownies then surely they would love blood pies. It was in mere seconds that numbers 1-5 had presented their two extra special pies to the messenger. The ladies batted their eyes and smiled as they sent the messenger on his way.

[Merci]

Leaving behind pretty much the entirety of his originally awesome regalia since they hadn't specified a price, all that gold and jewelry and diamonds, he carried both extra special pies all the way to the castle. The clock was now approaching two or three o'clock, the walk being long - even for a vampire - and he was slowed down anyway by the two pies he had to hold and balance, much more so than carrying large weights of gold, that thing he was used to.

After a somewhat long walk, he glanced casually beside him to see a rundown warehouse. In Lord Elnaer's ambition to exterminate all the human beings of the world, he hadn't yet gotten around to demolishing old-fashioned buildings like these. Ignoring a golden-armored vampire knight standing by it, he went towards the palace and entered it.

As soon as he had entered, two other prepared servants took the pies from his hands and carried them seperately up to the throne room where the Vampire Lord resided.


-------------------------


The other warehouse. Completely identical to the one they had emerged in, so much identical that it couldn't have possibly been a coincidence. The report from his second female spy, the temporary replacement of Shanna, said that it looked [i]similar[/i]...but this was completely identical, down to the dust. An infinitesimal probability, an impossible occurance. Whatever the cause was, it had definitely been planned. Perhaps by rebel vampires, or by some other human resistance that had fallen. Perhaps someone had been planning to take over Nuevida before Lord Elnaer had taken the throne, and so he (or she) had prepared these checkpoints.

John Alexander looked uncertain as he entered the warehouse. Yes, it was completely identical, minus the rocky hole that led into a secret passageway. Suspicious, he walked over to where it should be and tapped his foot where the passage existed in the other warehouse. No echo, no hollow section. Just floorboards over ground. So much for that. Overall, it was big enough to house a hundred people, more than enough than the fifty-ish that composed the last stand of the humans.

"...This is it, huh?" He murmured.

"Good afternoon, sir." A somewhat-familiar voice came from behind.

He turned around casually to see a pale vampire, clad in ragged armor- oh wait, that was a human. In fact, the very same human he had been training with before his patrol and announcement afterwards. Letting his glance analyze the entire warehouse, he had counted a total of five or six.

About twelve hours had passed since they had entered the capital city, and only one-tenth of the last stand's entirety had arrived. Either something had gone wrong, or some people were stupid enough to have fun here in the city while looking like a vampire. At the very least, as much he hated to admit it, he hoped that Lyon von Mira would make it. He needed that vampire to take the throne, otherwise things would get a whole load more complicated.

He didn't want to cause a vampire civil war.

[Gαr]

Ed grew a smile when Adrian deduced that he was in previously in the forest. Without warning, however, one of Adrian's katanas flew toward Ed's throat. This greatly surprised him which caused to show off his vampiric speed and agility. He quickly leaned over and turned away from the blade of the deadly sword so ir wouldn't pierce his flesh. Ed's free hand snatched the handle of the katana as it sailed passed. He straightened up and studied the sword. [color=#800000]"Excellent sword you got here. Well crafted and balanced, too. Not to mention that, I would assume[/color], [color=#800000]several similar ones. I would know because as I also follow the path on the sword."[/color] Ed tossed the katana back to Adrian, who caught. [color=#800000]"Looks like I won't be needing this,"[/color] Ed mumbled as he removed the cloth sleeve to reveal his katana. He put it on his belt and drew his sword. [color=#800000]"Magnificent, isn't it? It was given to me by my master for being his best student. He crafted it specially for me. Such a beautiful sword against your swords from who knows where. But enough talk! Have at you!"[/color] Ed darted forward and and thrust his blade toward Adrian's left should, but he expected to be countered, so he created that was aimed to go through his heart, if there was one.

[Love of Ghibli]

As the messenger made his way back to the castle he didn't seem to notice that he had just become part of the genius that was Operation Sexy Coffee he carried the spiked pies back to the castle but what he didn't know was that he was being followed. Like creepy ninjas the regular girls and Clarice followed this man back to the castle only to find out where the servants entrance was because that would be their plan of attack. Luckily they succeeded. The all made their way into the castle and Clarice was literally giddy with joy as she was most likely the first group to actually have infiltrated the castle. [color=#ff8c00]Ha stupid men![/color] she mocked as they all made their way into the kitchen area. Clarice clearly just let herself in the place and all of the kitchen staff seemed to look at these 11 women nonchalant if anything they were bothered by their presence. Clarice's eye twitched as it so often does because people are not giving her the right amount of fear/respect. It was then she nodded at the thought of having to kill everyone once again. But therein lies the problem with senseless slaughter. Victims tend to make a lot of noise, they bleed a lot, and unlike before there wasn't sufficient time or resources to dispose of the bodies. She had to think fast because these ladies were simply getting on her nerves.

[color=#ff8c00]Alright wenches time for a shift change! Clear out! [/color]Clarice took advantage of the fact that she looked like an armored vampire and thought she could simply order the people away without making quite the fuss. Unfortunately for everyone involved the head cook simply scoffed at the notion. A scoff...a scoff...Clarice wasn't about to take that from some manservant. How unfortunate for him that a katana blade just happened to go through his face as he turned away. His body fell over lifeless and needless to say that got everyone's attention. The kitchen was cleared out in a matter of seconds. Well that worked out nicely if I do say so myself she laughed as the numbered girls simply cleaned up that mess and quickly set-up shop in the kitchen area.

[Reinforce]

Lyon and his students had ended up staying at that same pub for the night, with at least one of them on watch over their room and the building the whole night, but with no incidents. In the morning, seeing as nothing else had happened, he got his group organised, all of them the better for the night's sleep, and the five of them left for the warehouse. Without anything much happening except for them getting lost a couple of times, he eventually arrived at about midday, before settling down in a nearby pub for a half hour or so to have some lunch. Again, nothing much was happening to them, almost as if they were just encountering all the mild natured vampires, before they finally headed for the warehouse. Walking inside, he noticed only a small number of people there already, about 12 with the inclusion of his small group, including John himself. "Hi Vohn, seems like nearly no-one's here yet. We're not just early are we?" Lyon said, as his students moved in and shut the door behind them.

[ListenToLife]

Adrian grinned as he caught the blade, gently lowering the sword to his side as he turned his head, cocking it slightly as if sniffing in Ed's direction. He chuckled and lowered his head again, pondering. The sword at his side trembled in his shaking hands, and the early morning light made his pale skin seem white. He turned once again, this time his entire body, so that his right hand side faced his challenger.

"What an interesting child you are." Adrian called, grinning madly as his eyes furrowed, their pale stare focussed entirely on Ed. The area surrounding them was surprisingly clear, as if everyone had found something else to do, but that mattered not to Adrian. He had found some willing prey. "No-one challenges me anymore." He said, almost solemnly, as the smile faded away. "They're all too scared. But you..." He grinned again, turning his entire body to face Ed. "...you'll do nicely."

Ed then started to talk, explaining how he himself was a swordsman, making Adrian chuckle. "We'll see how well you do." Adrian muttered, as Ed came in to swipe at him. Adrian blocked with ease, bringing his own blade to match Ed's with a satisfying [i]clang[/i], metal grating on metal. The blade was swiped in a direction Ed probably hadn't expected; the awkward angle of defence bringing Ed's sword to rest softly on Adrian's shoulder, the sharp side raised to the sky.
"The quality of the blades matters very little when compared to the quality of the weilder." Adrian explained, flicking his blade towards Ed, causing both his own blade and Ed to be forced backwards a little, while Adrian merely stepped back; his eyes narrowing with pleasure as the sharp ring of his own sword hitting the floor. "Oops." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Besides, my blades are of a fine quality, dont you worry." He grinned, licking his lips as he restarted the previous conversation. He resisted the urged to chuckle as he shrugged his shoulders with much exaggeration. "So I have quality and quantity." He added, revealing the 4 more blades that had been hidden under his cloak. He then moved to remove one from his back, holding it out in front of him in an extremely relaxed stance, as if he could barely be bothered by the fight.

"Careful." He muttered, smiling suspiciously as he lifted his sword to eye level, held horizontally in front of him. "You might not see it." He then proceeded to dash forward, accelerating much too quickly, and slicing from the side, aiming to decapitate, or at least sever Ed's right arm, as he attacked.

[Piercer of the Heavens]

After getting putting on his jacket Luis left the room he was in, in front of him was a hallway. This hallway had two doors on each side, probably other rooms. He continued straight to reach what seemed the be the living room, to the left of the living room was the kitchen. There he found Arael preparing the dishes, putting what seemed to be roasted chicken on them. "Mind if i help" Luis said grabbing one of the plates and placing on a table located near the kitchen. Arael just nodded and smiled continuing what she was doing. After about 5 minutes of placing the food, drinks, etc on the table the three sat down. The table was a rectangle, capable of seating 6 people, two at the ends and two on each side. Areal sat at one end, with Capella sitting to the right of her. Luis was on the opposite side of Arael. They all began to eat quietly, until Luis decided to break the silence.

"This has been bugging me for a while. You're a vampire, yet you can do magic." Luis questioned. "I thought only vampires with royal blood can do magic."

" That is true, even I was dumbfounded at my ability to use magic. You see I am of royal blood. My parents, are of royal blood, but they had friends who weren't. Within these friends there was a couple whose child died at birth.. At the same time my mother was giving birth to me, even in that state of pain she felt pity for her friend. So once a was successfully given birth to, she decided to give me to her friend. She told other that her child died at birth, so no one would ever know about me. To be honest I didn't know this until about 10 years ago."

"I see, that does explain everything... I guess. But if you don't mind here comes another question. How come you're telling me this when we just met. That sort of thing isn't something you tell a stranger, especially when we aren't even the same race of beings."

Arael opened her mouth about to speak when a knock was heard on the door. "Hurry hide" she told Luis. She then walked up to the front door and opened it. On the other side stood a guard, with an expression of sorrow on his face. "What... what has happened." she said.

"I'm sorry..." the guard spoke. "He was a good soldier, but his enemies were too strong. It was yesterday night, prisoners escape and killed a few guards, your husband was one of them."

Arael had a blank stare on her face. She closed the door without saying a word and just stared at Luis was was slowly approaching her. "I'm sorry." Luis said. "Although I didn't fight, I was with the group that did."

"Why...Why" Arael said as she fell into Luis arms. "Why is it that I feel no sadness for his death. Why is it that I feel no sorrow." She looked at Luis straight in the eyes. He proceeded to sit her on the couch, where he sat next to her. "Why do I feel nothing for him." she continued.

"Maybe... maybe you never loved him. Maybe he was never the one for you. Even you said yourself that you both had conflicting ideals."

"You're probably right." Arael said sitting next to Luis, hugging his arm. "About your earlier question. Something about you, it makes me feel warm. the same feeling I get when I look into my daughters eyes. The same feeling I have never felt with my husband. You just radiate this aurora, that is hard to explain, but it makes me feel... happy." She once again looked into Luis' eyes. "Do you really think that we are that different. If you ask me we aren't that different." she said before planting a kiss on Luis.

Luis didn't push her away, in fact he held her tighter. For he felt the same way about Arael. There on the couch they both sat, although they were not kissing anymore Arael's head rested on Luis' shoulder, when Capella walked in, but she didn't say anything. Instead she sat on Arael's lap and took a nap, in fact they all fell asleep on the couch. It was around 4 when they all awoke.

[Merci]

"I'm not sure..." John replied, closing his eyes, thinking to himself how this was possible. For now, he had decided to disregard his differences with the vampire Lyon. "The distance from there to here is a lot less than a mile long. It should've been enough time for at least half our full forces to have reached this place. I'm afraid that something may have happened to the majority of our forces...maybe the illusions had disappeared prematurely or something. I wouldn't know."

Sighing, he looked around. Right now, there were only thirteen people in total, including everyone. He wasn't one for superstition, but thirteen was an unlucky number, and this fact unsettled him.

"One of the things that particularly worry me is the absence of Clarice. With her lightning speed, she should've reached this place hours ago, but everyone here told me she had never appeared. Knowing her, she's probably started some [i]monstrous operation involving her female cadets, grinding vampires into meat pies and having already infiltrated the castle, probably massacring all the vampires in the kitchen, taking over, and most likely planning to launch some premature attempt on..."[/i]

His oddly specific remark faded away when another vampire- er, disguised human entered the warehouse. That brought their total count to fourteen. It was already [b]four o'clock PM,[/b] a late time by his standards. At this rate, it would be midnight before they launched their final assault on the castle. And for some reason, despite being the last stand of the humans that determined the fate of the rest of humanity, everything was progressing oddly...anticlimactically. Something should happen.

--------------------------------

[color=darkred][i]Why do I smell...the flesh and blood of my own kind?"[/i][/color] the Vampire Lord thought to himself randomly.

It was a strange odor, faint, coming all the way from the kitchen area. But it was probably just some stupid vampire who had accidentally cut his own entire hand with the knife, like last time. Royal cooks these days, idiots. The kitchen in his castle was the most advanced by far, surpassing any human kitchen as well as all the other kitchens in Nuevida, AND BEYOND! His kitchen was supreme, with [b]((in order to cut off the medievality of his thoughts which probably wouldn't make any sense to anyone, to simplify; it's like a modern royal kitchen, with modern tools and equipment, highly effective and RL expensive equivalent at that. The only thing it probably doesn't have is a microwave))[/b], and normal vampires were usually blinded at the mere sight of it. So he heard anyway. He had never really cared.

Then he heard a knock at the door, which was most likely his two servants, come to deliver the two meat pies.

...............

Instead, it was the fat royal guard, Kraten, shivering, bits of ice all over his body, looking half-dead, his eyes sore, with a look of utmost urgency.

Annoyed that his two meat pies hadn't arrived yet, he simply listened to what Kraten had to report.

[Love of Ghibli]

Clarice and her crew took a second to try to acquiesce themselves to the kitchen and all of its opulence luckily they didn't cause as much of a scene as they possibly could have. While being so close to the goal Clarice didn't want to jeopardize anything now. It was funny though that Clarice found it odd that John had not made his way to the castle yet sure he was a man and far inferior to her as a human being but he seemed to have some sort of extreme death wish. One would think he would make his way to the castle second, with Clarice and her female soldiers naturally being first of course.

The girls had began "brewing" a delicious pot of "coffee" in the kitchen of course is a culmination of all kinds of flammable materials. The plan was that when John and Lord vampy have their little battle to the death these barrels of this delicious coffee would be scattered all throughout the castle. The girls had plenty of time to set this up after all it was only 4 P.M. and the raid wasn't till midnight. So while the Numbers were being busy doing some non-conspicuous bomb making in this new super kitchen Clarice had the brilliant idea that she should simply take this rare opportunity to do some lightning fast castle looting. I mean how many times was she ever going to get the chance to steal from the soon to be former tyrant of all vampiredom. First this super fancy kitchen there were a litany of expensive cutlery and knives all throughout this ornate set-up so she simply opened up one of her ripples and looked inside for a second to check and see if it lead to an empty space. [color=#ff8c00]Yep sooooo....mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, mine, double mine, and oh yes this is momma's[/color] she said laughing as she buzzed around the room throwing random sharp objects into her ripple. The numbered girls were still simply laughing at the comedic display of their captain. Hard to believe not even a full 48 hours ago she mutilated them viciously. She waved to them as she zipped around the castle making extra sure she couldn't be seen. Not like it would matter anyway her reflexes and speed were simply too fast.

After some random buzzing around she found and making sure she avoided king blasty butts. She opened this one door off a hunch and what she found was amazing. She had stumbled into an armory! She put her hands together and let out a quick prayer in honor of the female God that bestowed her this bounty. After her prayer was done, she vanished and within 30 seconds all items that had a blade in that room or remotely looked like they could be used as a weapon was gone. Meanwhile the bodyguards of Ebony Thunder had mobilized to fulfill their mission. Disguised as castle guards the ladies of Ebony Thunder snuck into the guards quarters during a shift change, by keeping quietly to themselves they were able to more or less give a lot of areas a new fresh coating of fat. Yes animal fat, in this case vampire fat from all of the "meat" that went into the meat pies. The girls only wanted to give the vampires the finest cuts of their own kin. Clarice with her lightning speed was able to check on them during her massive looting and they seemed to have such an efficient system.

After she looted about 80% of the castle she made it back to the kitchen and in two hours the girls had managed to make several barrels of "coffee." Great now we only have two hours to set this all up scatter! The girls dispersed and for the next two hours would be a montage of kitchen vampire staff walking around the castle in various places and just leaving barrels in random corners and guards seemingly performing maintenance on the walls. No one could suspect these humble employees and besides it was easy for the ladies of Ebony Thunder to not look like ladies. Clarice was burning her magic to the fullest to make sure nothing went wrong for this was the most crucial part of Operation Sexy coffee. Wide scale terrorism, yes it was a tad extreme but this situation was already extreme.

Clarice and everyone rendezvoused in a random hallway away from prying eyes at the end of there two hours.

[color=#ff8c00]Is everything set in place? [/color]
[color=#800080]Yes big mama.[/color]
[color=#ff0000]Good to go boss lady.[/color]
[color=#ff8c00]Great now let's all rally back in the kitchen and store up for the big battle, [/color]
[color=#800080]What about the warehouse meeting place?[/color]
[color=#ff8c00]The what?[/color]
[color=#800080]Yeah, Captain John wants us all to meet at a warehouse not far from here for the final battle.[/color]
.[color=#ff8c00]...the what?...[/color]
[color=#ff0000]Boss were you listening?[/color]
Clarice's eye twitches as she can't believe her ears. Once again John has managed to make life hard for her and he isn't even there. Its amazing how he hasn't used this to be some form of super power. [color=#ff8c00]The what?[/color]
That is all she was saying as her team comically dragged her out of the castle and to the warehouse where John was stationed.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

As if to add to the climactic factor of the evening, the door swung open and a group of vampires, yes legitimate vampires, entered the warehouse. There were ten of them in total, all of them carrying firearms on straps slung over their shoulders and some form of bladed weapon at their belt. Rather than move to attack the humans, the lot of them brought their hands up to their foreheads and came to attention. In other words, they saluted the obvious knight amongst the group. The foremost of the group, an older-looking vampire who bore a pointed white goatee and carried an officer's saber on his hip, approached the knight before him.

[color=#008000]"I'll be operating under the assumption that you're Vohn," [/color]the vampire began. As he spoke, a few more vampires that clearly seemed to be under his command entered the room and took up positions around the edges of the warehouse. The lot of them were wearing Lamellar and carrying rifles of various levels of technological advance, and furthermore they were all armed with some form of melee weapon even if it was just a bayonet on the end of their rifle. [color=#008000]"Iron told us we would find you here, and as per his suggestion we are at your command. There are five hundred of us, and every last member of this resistance movement wants Elnaer's head on a pike." [/color]The elder gentleman now calmly waited for John to address him, and as he waited more and more members of the rebellion entered the warehouse. Every five to ten minutes another group ranging in size from six to fifteen entered, and soon they were filling up the room. Of course there was care made to allow the humans room to operate, and before much longer the humans would be finding their movement vastly empowered.

[i]Meanwhile.....[/i]

In the southwest corner of the city, Iron Dragon had finally reached the building he had searched for. Without knowing how he knew the location of the street-level entrance he slipped down an alleyway and quickly found a stone in the wall which could be pressed in. Seconds later, the wall pulsed with magic for a moment and then an entire section of it rose off the ground to allow for an entrance into the dark building. The moment Iron had slipped over the thresh hold, the door slid back into place behind him and left the construct standing in total darkness.

Again, without knowing how he knew the location of it, Iron reached his right hand out and flipped a switch near the door. The instant that the switch was flipped, the whole room came blindingly to light. At least it would have been blinding to someone whose eyes were not constructed in the same way as Iron's. The room in which he found himself was rather posh, or at least it might have been so if not for the thin coat of dust over everything and the cobwebs hanging in the corners of the ceiling. The construct made his way through the foyer, which was decorated across the whole of the walls with paintings of the vampiric armies in action and bore large stone tablets inscribed with elvish runes. At the end of the foyer there were three paths one could take, the right leading into what appeared to be a living room, the left leading into what might be a kitchen, and the central one which lead up a set of stairs. The construct set about climbing the stairs, and as he stepped up he began to see things. He saw the inside of the building filled with guests, particularly the foyer and living room, of vampiric nature and clearly higher class members of society raising toasts in his direction. He saw a trio of women in maids outfits busy keeping the building clean.

As he reached the top of the first flight of stairs, he entered into a room which was empty of furniture and bore a solid hardwood floor covered in dust. Once more he saw upper-class guests, only this time dancing. He saw a beautiful vampire woman before him in masquerade attire, and from the view he and her were clearly sharing a dance. He tried to shake these images from his mind but as he tried they only came back stronger. Struggling with the force of these memories he crossed the room and came to a door which opened easily to him and showed a spiral staircase which lead only further up. He climbed it, and images of making his way up it before flashed into his mind though he was certain he had never done so. A door appeared on his right and though he passed it he knew it lead to a hallway lined with guest rooms. Another appeared once he had climbed another story and he knew this one lead to the master suite of the house. The construct was now stumbling as his mind was being assaulted with images, and as he reached the top of this spiral staircase he pushed the final door open.

Before him an extensive laboratory spread out. One wall was covered with machinery clearly designed for the shaping of metal into various forms, there was even something which appeared to be a blacksmith's forge that Iron knew was designed to harness the power of lightning strikes to heat metal. He knew how to operate every last one of those machines, and as his gaze shifted to the right he saw first three bookshelves that reached to the ceiling and were completely filled with tomes. He could recall the name of every one of them, and knew at least the subject of each. His head began to spin as he beheld memories of the room in operation, filled with research assistants mulling over the musty tomes or working at the machines. He continued stumbling along, and soon he stood over seven concentric circles of elvish runes, the largest of which was some ten feet in diameter. He saw, again from the first person perspective, his own body covered in his armor but without the blood-red symbols upon it in the exact center of these circles standing upon an obsidian disk which was still there outside of this memory. The memory now had him turning away from the circle and proceeding to a desk on the wall before hiding away a single tome in the false bottom of a drawer. Before the memory had faded, Iron opened it up and turned to the final page to read what there was...

[Merci]

John shifted somewhat uncomfortably as ten powerful vampires appeared out of nowhere and offered their services to him, and apparently they had a force of what appeared to be five hundred. He shot a harsh glance at Lyon, but quickly changed it when they revealed that they had in fact been sent by that iron warmonger flying thing. Well, that was a surprise. The rest of the human soldiers had their glance on him anxiously, wondering what his verdict would be.

"....Very well." He answered formally, after a moment of hesitation. "Our goal here is the defeat of Elnaer. I had originally been intending an infiltration, but if the numbers you spoke of are true..." He looked around to see more and more vampires entering, and whether they were aware or not that his small force were humans, he didn't know. "...Then perhaps storming the castle would be more efficient. With a large army surrounding the castle, there will be nowhere for the Vampire Lord to run and hide."

But then he realized something.

"I trust you are doing something to avoid suspicion from this checkpoint? Surely someone would notice large amounts of vampires parading into a warehouse?"

By the time Clarice arrived, she would find what appeared to be either hundreds of disguised humans, or actual genuine vampires...

---------------

[color=darkred]"...."[/color]

Lord Elnaer was silent, after having taken a huge chunk of one of the meat pies and putting it into his mouth. One of the things not known to the public was that he was a ridiculously big eater, even more so than the fat royal guard who had collapsed by the side after telling his story about the rest of the prisoner escape and the secret passageway that his younger brother had apparently known about, which he himself had not. This was a weakness that had to be dealt with immediately, which was why he had sent an explosives expert in to destroy the whole thing.

And these meatpies tasted strange. The taste familiar somehow.

Closing his eyes, he thought back to a moment in his childhood when he had been having a fit. As a child, he had been really spoiled after all, so it was only natural. But that one time he was so angry that he had bitten into the arm of one of the servants, crunching it horribly as hard as he could. The end result was, well, he couldn't remember, but he did remember that there was a lump of meat he had apparently bitten entirely off that poor servant. He spat it out, but...

There was also a touch of human blood, which was pleasing yet also disturbing. His focus slightly went off-focus, but not enough for him to become some sort of drunken and [i]merciful[/i] idiot.

....Oh well!

[Love of Ghibli]

Clarice kicked open the door to this warehouse and came through with large battle axes ready for battle. [color=#ff8c00]JOOOOHHHNNNN!! Where are you, you sad excuse for a man?[/color] She was a tad angry that she was literally in the lair of the beast ready to set off a massive chain of explosions that would have no doubt crippled the Vampire populus, but no she had to come here first to like this was some kind of school trip or something. Clearly in her rage she had decided that it would be best to just let loose some frustrations on John. Unfortunately her first sight as she looked inside this warehouse was not John it was this strange new army of people. And army not as in a large group but literally and militia of other beings. [color=#ff8c00]What is this?[/color] She said with a slight sigh as the rest of her girls made their way into the warehouse and looked at the new vampire army. Whether they attempted to disguise themselves or not meant nothing the second Clarice spotted large amounts of firearms she knew what they were.

[color=#ff8c00]Okay John, I can actually approve of this action using Vampires to kill other Vampires. Either way it goes you've dwindled down the number of potential problems for us. Good Job.[/color] Clarice nodded at this new army thinking it was all of John's doing though she still resented the thought of having to even be in this warehouse to begin with. [color=#ff8c00]And here I thought you wouldn't do anything but take your time getting here. Have a pie why don't you.[/color] Just then Butch and Cassidy came through with a giant bag of meat pies and laid them on the table. There were only about 20 pies Clarice didn't count on the massive army but people could share if they wanted too. [color=#ff8c00]We were busy acquiring territories incase we needed a medical station of some kind close to the battle. We have an inn and an eatery at our disposal.[/color] Clarice said proudly though she couldn't help but feel a little shame since John had outdone her by amassing these large forces. How unlike him.

[Reinforce]

Lyon shrugged and grinned as John turned across to glare at him, almost as if to convey that he wasn't responsible for all these vampires, before they told John that they were actually sent by the iron dragonlike thing that had joined them. Smiling somewhat at this unexpected occurance, he took a seat at the back of the room, near John's current position, leaving his mages to mingle with the croud of newcomers. The smile quickly faded though as Clarice burst in, seeming fustrated at something and started yelling something at john about having an inn and an eatery that they could use, even as several of her girls laid meat pies on the table. Seeing the free food be presented, Lyon walked forward and took one, before returning to his seat. Once there, he took a bite out of it, before noticing a couple of odd flavours in it, one of which tasted a lot like human blood. "Hey Clarice, what did you put in these pies, they don't taste like any meat I've had before?"

[Love of Ghibli]

Clarice and her soldiers were off somewhere in the warehouse doing random weapon inspections, cleaning their nails, and other menial task to kill time. She then noticed Lyon ask her question and she looked up slightly confused for a second. She wasn't really used to non-insulting remarks from the vampire. [color=#ff8c00]Oh um lets see there is some cumin, cilantro, some hearty veggies, oh right and vampire meat.[/color] She said vampire meat very matter-of-factish almost like one would say if they said chicken or pork. [color=#ff8c00]You know simple things and whatever was lying around. Oh and you would have loved it Lyon the eatery we took over made a terrific amount money. Like seriously we were selling meat pies left and right. And in the end we ended up giving two to the high king himself. I think the girls and I are going to start a business after you take over and everything. Don't worry we'll have perfected the recipe by the time your rule is fully established."[/color]

Clarice went back to cleaning her nails as she let everyone who eating the pies digest them and this new information. Its not that she didn't care what she had done to everyone its more like she didn't fully comprehend that she did anything wrong. Animals eat other animals all the time and while cannibalism is taboo she didn't really care that much for the vampires if eating there own kind drove them mad then, well that makes conquest a lot easier.[color=#ff8c00] We also made Haggis too but that's pretty hard to carry around, but I can go fetch it for you if you like.[/color] She resumed cleaning her nails with a gold dagger she "acquired" from the armory and began to hum a song.

[Reinforce]

Upon hearing the words of Clarice, an icy chill swept through the room, centred around Lyon who had stood up and was glaring at Clarice. As he did, the pie he was holding frosted over with ice, before shattering as he clenched his hand. All four of his mages stepped back in fear, having seen him angry before. "You do realise that's cannibalism right, vampires may not be human, but we are people too. The idea of this plan also isn't to kill the general populace of this city, the only ones we're after are Elnaer and Niasa." The chill left the majority of the room, instead condensing over the pies, of which 15 still remained, frosting them over and shattering them. That complete, the chill disappeared, leaving a small patch of water on the floor along shattered pieces of frozen pie, and the rest of the room very much drier than it had been. Lyon was still glaring at Clarice though, his dark blue eyes very much darker than previously, looking as dark as a near black section of the ocean at this point.

[Merci]

One of the soldiers who had just been about to take a bite out of the meat pies vomited his whole breakfast and lunch onto the floor after Clarice revealed her secret of 'vampire meat', horrified beyond reason. Although he was among the mook ranks, the normal people without any particular special power or talent, he actually had a rather sad romance story hidden within. But if he had to tell it shortly, it would go like this;

There was this human guy. He fell in love with this vampire woman in Nuevida, Asanna, who returned his feelings. Happy happy happy but then Elnaer von Mira rose as Vampire Lord and immediately decreed that all humans be massacred like the rodents they were. So he had to run and leave her. And that was why he had participated in this human last stand, above all else, to vanquish the evil tyrant from the world of the living once and for all, and then be able to reunite with his loved one. But of course, it's been like two years, so she could've cheated on him or something...

Now that he thought about it, she had mentioned wanting to join the royal cooks. She really loved the kitchen, and it was rumored that the castle kitchen was the very best in all the land.

Unbeknownst to him, there was a chance she had been among those Clarice and her brigade had cleared out. A high chance in fact.

Tough luck.

-----------------------------------------------------

[b]"WHAT?!?"[/b]

John was horrified. Sure, he didn't like vampires, and he knew Clarice didn't either, and he had known she probably would've done something reckless, but this was going, this had gone way too far. Even that creepy demon girl from earlier - who is luckily among those who hadn't yet reached the warehouse, which is lucky because she probably would've repelled a lot of people - wouldn't have done such a thing. He nodded as Lyon disposed of all the pies.

He rubbed his head.

"...I must apologize to the rest of you. Clarice can be...[i]really really really really really really really really[b]really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really [u]really really really really really really really REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY[/u][/i][/b] reckless at times..." He murmured, trying hard to think of a suitable way to justify her actions, but there was none. This action was simply unpardonable, and they may have just lost the support of five hundred extra supermen with this simple declaration.

"Clarice, if you are ever going to conduct this business after our victory..." John began. [b]"Then you are absolutely forbidden from using vampire meat as an ingredient in your recipe. Whoever succeeds the throne, be it Lyon or someone else, or even if the whole thing collapses and the vampire nation becomes a democracy...nobody will ever approve of it.[/b] Just saying. If you must, replace it with some meat more convenient."

Then he turned to her 'brigade'.

[b][i]"And you let her do all this?"[/i][/b] He asked them, harshly.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

There was certainly a most unfortunate fact about this moment that nobody seemed to understand. By this time the whole of the forces of the Nuevida Resistance Movement were assembled within the warehouse, of course having spaced out the arrival of groups of them to avoid arousing suspicion. The most unfortunate fact, however, was that they were far from as cool-headed as the one who would be their king. The lot of them didn't even wait for Lyon to finish speaking as they all, in unison, raised their rifles. Some among them were soldiers, others peasants, etc. so there was a great variance of skill between all of them. However anger has a nasty effect in that adrenaline is released, that particular bodily chemical increases the reaction speed of those whom it is rushing through.

[color=#008000]"Fire!" [/color]It was the old man who had lead the first group of vampires into the warehouse that gave the order. Some five hundred rifle triggers were pulled, all of them aimed at Clarice and her girls. The sound of that many firearms going off at once would be akin to that from a bolt of lightning striking right next to your ear. In fact given the swiftness of their unanimous reaction it was entirely likely that John didn't get the chance to even try talking them out of this action, not that they would listen anyways. With that thunderous sound some five hundred pieces of lead shot were sent rocketing through the air towards Clarice, the majority of the vampiric marksmen having taken care to choose avenues of fire well away from the rest of those in the room.

[i]-----Meanwhile------[/i]

[i]"I have set about writing the contents of the page before you in the event that the experiment which I am about to undertake has unforeseeable side effects. The magic which is being worked with here is ancient, perhaps as ancient as the planet itself, and thus there can be little prediction of what may happen. It is possible that, through the powering of the construct, my memory may be expunged or some other fate may occur. If you are reading this, then it is likely that the side effect of which you are suffering is the aforementioned one.[/i]

[i]You are 'Doctor' Alexi Sa'Lien, member of His Majesty's most exalted scientific course and graduate of the Lath Sci-Arcana University, with honors. Though you achieved your doctorate degree from that institution, it is not because of a slip of paper that you are known as 'Doctor'. Ninety years ago, at the age of sixteen, you enlisted in His Majesty's Blessed Army to fight against the humans for the promotion and protection of the Vampire race and it is during that time of service that you earned the title of Doctor. Not because of medical skill, but because of the sheer precision with which I struck down the enemy with saber and rifle. By the time the war came to an end, I had saved up enough money from combat pay to attend the aforementioned university.[/i]

[i]Upon receiving my bachelor's degree, I stayed on as a graduate student and began working towards my PHD. Despite being about the same age as many of the professors, I was more than able to keep up with the younger students concerning learning and research. The thesis which ultimately achieved your PHD was entitled [u]'Theories Concerning the Culture, Both Civilian and Military, of the Ancient Elves'[/u] and can be found in its published form on one of the shelves to my right. Not that I need to look over it, as these major cues concerning the events of my life are sure to restore my memory. [/i]

[i]In closing, let it be known that all which has been said above is true, as is what is to be said next. You, reader, are the writer of this journal entry."[/i]

Having finished reading the entry in the tome, Alexi fell to the ground clutching his head in agony as every single moment of his life prior to being trapped within a mechanical body of his own creation flooded back into his mind. It was as if his ears were pounding with thunder and his eyes blinded by a constant flashing light. Eventually, the sudden stimulation of his mind rendered him unconscious.

Perhaps half an hour later, Alexi awakened and pulled himself to his feet. He reached to rub his eyes, only to find himself staring down at the metallic hands of a construct. The events since the day he had completed the construction of that body returned to him in a flash, and he immediately threw his hands into the air and cheered.

"The damn thing works!" He almost began to laugh from the elation, and then he remembered what he had become involved in for a moment. Though some might have been faced with the dilemma of whether or not things out to change now, Sa'Lien was not the sort to do that. He recognized that the decision to fight alongside the humans was for the betterment of both races, Elnaer needed to be dealt with if only because he had tried to kill the man. Of course before he left, Alexi made certain to remember to collect his savings for the purpose of re-hiring the staff that had worked in his home as well as to rub the success of his experiment in Kaname's face. That done, he turned to the laboratory window and[s], like a ninja,[/s] pushed it open before leaping out onto one of the rooftops below. It took him all of about a minute to vanish into the shadows and begin making his way towards the warehouse in which the forces were gathering to eliminate Elnaer. Furthermore, he made certain to re-affix his helm and gauntlets along the way.

[Love of Ghibli]

Clarice could only pout as Lyon froze the rest of her pies and shattered them she could have made good money with those. Sad. She did however let out a slight chuckle when Lyon said that Vampires were people. [color=#ff8c00][i]Silly bat, vampires aren't people, people are people [/i][/color]she thought to herself. She could only roll her eyes as John started in with his long apology on her behalf. Like she had something to apologize for. In Clarice's eyes she should be rewarded for her outstanding service in the line of duty. She found a very creative way to solve a problem and she made money off of it. How is making money a bad thing nowadays. He sighs of annoyance seized as she could see these men raise their rifles. Her gaze fixed on this one enemy commander as he screamed fire. As these 500 pieces of lead came at her, her murderous gaze didn't shift focus as she could clearly see what was coming at her.

Fortunately for everyone in the room Clarice wasn't alone she had four bodyguards for just these sort of situations and she came with ten of her newly trained recruits. The bodyguards of Ebony Thunder had also seen these gunmen getting ready for action and had quickly jumped in front of the line of fire. Clarice with a simply twitch opened a ripple next to them and four giant shields which she had stolen from the armory had rolled in front of Ebony Thunder. The shields combined with the fact that they were all wearing the armor of some of the guards allowed them to survive the assault relatively unscathed. Still Clarice's glare did not waver. It was still on the old one who said "Fire." She stood up and walked slowly towards this creature not caring for anything that got in her way. There she stood face to face with this man/vampire thing who dared to open fire on her and her girls. [color=#ff8c00]You mad?[/color] she asked with an oddly calm voice. Clarice was past her tipping point, the one shred of conscious that she used to keep from killing little vampire children and turning them into pies had gone. This wouldn't be manic or bloody crazy like she normally would use to slaughter individuals. This was just going to be death.

[color=#ff8c00]What are you mad about?[/color] she said she got closer to this things face. [color=#ff8c00]Are you mad that I killed your kin, that I turned them into pies, or that they actually tasted good? Doesn't matter... [/color]she began to lick her lips as some sort of nervous tick that she does to keep herself from killing on the spot...do yourself a favor, die tonight. She began to look at the rest of this new vampire army. [color=#ff8c00]If you got beef with me then step-forward right now and I'll kill you where you standing and trust me neither John nor Lyon will be able to save you. [/color]She waited for anyone to step forward, hopefully they could tell somehow through luck or divine intervention that her magic was at its zenith right now one false move from anyone means certain death.

See Clarice doesn't really care about acts of violence towards her. If they just shot at her she could easily cut and dodge those bullets while counter-attacking, but to attack her girls is to attack her children and that is one thing you never want to do is get between a mother and her babies. The only that restrained her from ending the lives were three thoughts. First John and Lyon were there so while she probably could've mowed down 50 by the time the two of them could fully use their powers to stop her, when they stopped her she would be stopped. Second while the thought of killing John, frosty buckets and these imps was appealing she certainly wasn't strong enough to lead this whole raid on the castle by herself nor strong enough to take on lord Superpower. Finally her girls literally filled and coated a lot of the castle with explosives. There was a high probability that these vamps were going to die anyway. Besides she had already mentally killed them in her head anyway it was just about when and how many of their relatives were going to die as well.

AS she walked back to her seat she couldn't help but notice the cold glare that was being thrown her way by Leon she replied with her own bloodthirsty gaze. [color=#ff8c00]What you lookin at?[/color]